The Art of Revenge
by randominuyasha
Summary: When Slert goes out to find more test subjects, she accidentally comes across a group of ex-pakless. They reveal to her something she's always wondered about, and sets off on a mission to exact revenge for past events.
1. Chapter 1

Chapter 1

The shorter-than-average Irken rocked back and forth on the two unalleviated legs of the chair, thinking deeply. She'd just made another important discovery, and was thinking of how she was to utilize it.

Of course, the answer to that was simple; weapons such as this were always unique, and the damage made by them was most often harsh and irreversible.

The two front legs of the chair dropped to the floor with a loud clatter, setting her upright. Knowing that this could be one of her more useful discoveries yet, she immediately went to work fitting every weapon she had with this exciting new feature. She had barely started when her stolen SIR unit, Streerch, stepped into her study.

"My master, we seem to be getting low on supplies. I suggest we to out to get more, as soon as possible," it said in that robotic voice that most SIRs had.

"Yes…you're right, as always. That's how I programmed you," Slert agreed, turning in her chair, "It's been too long. Let's go as soon as I put this away…and let's not get as many this time, so we can go out to get more sooner next time."

Soon her unfinished deadly toys were safely tucked away in a place that only she could get to, and she approached the door that Streerch was waiting at. The two walked through the door, and into a gym-sized room.

Lining the walls were Irken-sized test tubes, though some were bigger for different specimens. In many of those entrapments sway Irkens and Voortians alike, some alive but most dead.

"They look so lovely like that, don't they, Streerch?" she asked her robot slave fondly, stopping for a moment to look across the room. These were the test subjects of her experiments, hand chosen by her. Of course most, if not all of them had protested and fought for their lives, but in the end Slert won every time.

She closed her eyes and stroked her skin where a nose would normally be, if Irkens had noses. Etched in her yellowish-green skin was a deep gash that refused to heal, but she was perfectly OK with that. Unlike many of her other scars that faded over time, this one would stay just as it was, showing her work and accomplishments.

Streerch snapped its master out of her odd daydream when it tapped her on the shoulder insistently. "Master, if we want to go today, now is the time. It is the time of the day when they are ripe for the picking," it urged, knowing that they had to act fast if they wanted to get the best ones.

"Yes, I suppose you're right. It just seems to bring back memories…" Slert sighed, walking toward another door, this one to the left of them. They passed through this one as they did the other, and found themselves in yet another room. While Streerch moved on ahead, Slert stayed behind for an extra second or two to lock the door. Soon she had caught up to her robot, and they both passed through the door on the other side of the room.

All that security was needed. Should anyone stumble upon her little lab, she didn't want anyone figuring out anything major. With that in mind, years ago she had chosen this abandoned base as her home, with all its immense rooms and confusing layout.

Finally, after passing through more than enough rooms, Slert and Streerch were standing out side in the evening sunshine. The sun was just disappearing over the far-off barren hills, making this the perfect time to go hunting.

The trip to the city would be long and boring one, but Slert knew that it would be well worth it. The Irkens that would be out when they got there would be the ones that were perfect for testing experiments on.

They both new the routine very well; go there on foot as to not arouse suspicion, make it a quick job, and teleport back to the base, making it hard, possibly impossible to track them.

************

"Ah, the big city…the perfect place to hunt," Slert said happily, taking in the sights as much as she could. That turned out to be quite difficult; when about to commit a crime, one gives off this feeling of danger, so she kept to the unpopulated areas as much as possible. Still, she hadn't been outside like this for longer than she could remember.

Although she didn't remember a lot about this particular city, she did remember where the best spots were. Immediately, after scaring a random person shitless, she let Streerch to her favourite ally, where so many Irkens loved to spend their nights getting high off of Blissful Oblivion, the newest drug on the scene.

They entered the alleyway, and blended into the shadows to ensure being unseen until they struck. As always, they'd have the element of surprise on their side when they put the attack into action.

But on this night, unlike the many others when Slert and Streerch had visited, the small roadway was almost deserted. As the two slunk through the shadows, the only Irkens they saw was a small group of five.

These Irkens didn't seem normal. They weren't giddy and high, but they weren't calm like un-drugged Irkens. They didn't look happy that the Armada was cruising around claiming planets, but instead seemed deeply upset about something.

Slert didn't care how they were feeling, though. She needed test subjects, no matter what.

From out of her sleeve she pulled a knife in its own little sheath. She pulled the knife from its hiding place, revealing that it was dripping with the new poison that she'd discovered just before they left on their little excursion just hours earlier.

"Streerch, stay here until I say so," she whispered to her obedient servant, knowing that her little robot would be the key to getting out of there.

With that, she jumped out from the shadows, the deadly knife held firmly in her right hand.

One of the Irkens caught a glimpse of Slert as she powered toward them, and pushed the others out of the way. He knew what would happen if he did otherwise; the others had lost the will to live, and would stay planted to the spot in the line of danger if he didn't save them.

"Who are you, and what d'you want?" the heroic male Irken asked, a touch of fear in his voice.

"Hmm…how troublesome. This would have been a lot easier if you hadn't seen me so soon…" Slert sighed, her head cocked to the side.

"You didn't answer my questions. WHO are you, and WHAT do you want?" the Irken opposite Slert growled. Although he was scared out of his boots, he refused to let anything happen to his companions, and a distraction like this would give them time to get away.

"Fine, if you insist," Slert said. She figured that it was going to be the last thing they heard anyway, and with that in mind she continued, "My name is Slert, and I need Irken test subjects for my experiments."

Not wanting to give the opponent time to react, as soon as she finished talking she leapt at him, arm holding the dagger outstretched.

"I am Kienz, and I refuse to let you kill my friends!" the other Irken yelled as an introduction of his own, as he dodged Slert's attack.

Slert realized that he was faster and more experienced than she had thought, and knew she'd have to step it up a notch. It excited her, really; she hardly ever had the chance to have a decent fight.

Again she lunged at Kienz, determined to take him as her prey. She aimed the poison drenched dagger square at his heart, sure that this attack would make contact. Ultimately, it was her ego that brought her down.

"NO!" Kienz hollered, adrenaline gushing through his veins. He refused to give up, and launched a quick counter attack.

Just as Slert was menacingly cruising through the air toward him, Kienz jumped out of the way, and as she got closer, he put all of the energy he could into a single kick.

Slert, who'd been caught off-guard by this sudden attack, didn't have any time to react. Kienz's knee impacted her stomach, knocking the wind out of her. As she fell to the ground, she could have sworn that her squeedlyspooch had just been bruised.

She tried to call out for Streerch to help her, but only succeeded in making an undecipherable wheeze. Knowing that it was futile at the moment, she looked up at the ones she had failed to capture.

Kienz was crouched on the ground next to Slert, a steady stream of blood flowing from a cut. It seemed that on her way down, the dagger had grazed him, her poison entering his body.

The others, who were still out of harms way for now, were staring at the crumpled attacker, looks of sadness and envy on their faces.

The looks on their faces confused Slert, who didn't know what they could be envious of, and she managed to say after regaining some speech ability, "What?"

"You're lucky," one of the Irkens, a former reporter, told her, "You get to die here free of out society, PAKless like we were meant to be."

At the girl's words, Slert looked to the other side of her. She hadn't noticed, but during the impact, her PAK had detached from her body. That had been roughly two minutes ago.

A normal Irken under these circumstances would die in a short ten minutes. This made Slert neither sad nor happy; it made her angry because these others, if she didn't do anything, were about to lean of her greatest weapon and advantage.

Her breath had returned while she had been silently cursing, and she shakily got to her feet. She didn't want to do this in case someone was secretly watching, but she had to kill them while she still had the chance.

"DIE!" she called out, scooping up her dagger and expertly throwing it at the group who Kienz wanted so desperately to defend. Having only one weapon to work with was starting to annoy her, but it would have to do; she hadn't had enough time to finish any other ones, so this was all she had.

Kienz, who still somehow found the strength to move, launched himself in the way of the flying dagger. It sunk deep into his wrists, passing completely through the first one and finally sticking in the wrist he had placed behind it for support.

"I will NOT let you harm them!" he wheezed, coughing up blood. The poison was starting to take effect, and soon Kienz would become completely paralysed.

He still had a little time left before that happened, however, and Slert was in a pickle. Neither knew how much longer he could last. She'd been foolish enough to only bring the dagger, which Kienz now had possession of.

Not knowing what else to do, she called for Streerch. She had a mere four minutes left until her ten minutes was up, and in that time she planned to kill all the witnesses.

::End of Chapter1::

So here it is, the first chapter of my first purely Invader Zim fanfiction. It will feature original characters, lots of them, and other awesome stuff as well. I'm planning for it to be a three part series, with this being the first part (obviously). So far this first part has 23 chapters, and is waiting on some other stuff to be finished first. Chances are I'm going to just go ahead and write the rest of it, though, and hope I don't do what precedes it/what it takes place in shame... 'cause I would really hate to do that. We shall see I suppose! The second part is also underway, though that is also waiting on something. It should be finished up relatively soon, however, which means I'll be able to work on that again. The third one hasn't been started yet, but I have a plot in mind for it.

So yeah, I have a lot done on this already. I hope to be posting another chapter every one or two weeks, depending on how busy I am at the time, as I'm also writing a TF2 fanfiction and writing for a video game at the moment. Still, I have a bit of time to work out what will happen after chapter 23, so I should start to get on that, just to make sure I don't fall behind at all.

Slert here was actually the first original character I'd ever made inside a fandom. Since then I've made many, many more, all of which will make an appearance in one or more of the three parts at one point or another. Some will play big rolls and others not so much. I'm really pleased with how she's turned out so far and how she progresses through the parts, as well as one or two of the other characters. But I'll leave that for later, as the beginning is no place to talk of stuff that has/will happened so far.

Oh, and one more thing. This story is based heavily around Pakless, a fanfiction by a friend of mine, as Slert and her OC are very much tied together, as you shall soon find out. Her fanfiction was never finished, but yeah... I'll explain what has to be explained when the time comes. Don't you worry about that.

The plot thickens as I leave you this week wondering what on Irk will happen to Slert and how the battle will progress. Until next time (hopefully a week, two at the latest), have fun reading!


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter 2

"Streerch, offensive pattern 5239!" Slert hissed, determined to kill off the witnesses in less than four minutes. She didn't have many attacks that could do that, and she planned on going all the way with this.

Streerch, who had emerged from the shadows to join her master, saluted Slert and faced its opponents. With that, the obedient servant proceeded to attack.

From Streerch's feet came small rockets, which activated, sending the robot whizzing through the air toward the group of Irkens. It got into one of those cliché Superman-type flying positions, and razor sharp blades shot out of its outstretched fist.

Streerch, being able to manoeuvre through the air, pulled up to go around and attack from behind. It was just about to launch its second attack, the one that would finish them all off, when a short cry interrupted it.

Turning around in mid-air, Streerch observed her master in close combat with Kienz. She had a small gash in her arm, made by her own dagger.

Its mode instantly switched from attack mode to defence mode at the sight of her master's life being jeopardized, something that it couldn't help but doing, and rushed to protect her.

"Master!" Streerch called out, heading straight for Kienz. He had just enough time to look at the incoming robot when from its head emerged a large drill, spinning at top speed. Before Slert could command otherwise, the attack made contact.

A sickening _squish_ sound echoes up and down the alleyway as the poor Irken's were literally scrambled. Blood oozed from the entry point, and he shook uncontrollably from the sheer force of the drill.

His companions looked on in horror, wanting to do something to save their friend, but at the same time wanting to save themselves from that sticky ending.

The drill exited through the back of Kienz's head, and the pieces of skin and bone and brain and everything else that had been stuck between the spirals of the drill flew off, sticking to the walls and everyone in the ally.

Streerch, although Kienz was very clearly dead, continued to drill. Soon the little robot had gone all the way through and come out the other end, and was standing beside its master, drenched in blood.

The attack had done its damage, leaving Kienz slumped in a heap on the ground, half of his head torn away.

His eyes were no longer in their sockets, and either were lying on one pavement or had been ground up with the rest of his head. He still did have a little bit of the top of his head, but because of the gaping hole in his face, it sagged into where his brain would usually reside.

He still did have one antennae left; the other one had gotten in the way of the drill, and had been ripped from his head, leaving another, though much smaller, hole in his head. Blood covered every inch of his body, making a pool of aquamarine blood on the ground.

The others couldn't help but stare at their mutilated friend, though they didn't want to look any longer. They seemed unable to turn away, however, as if their eyes were glued to the gruesome sight.

Mica, who had previously had to stay observant in the line of reporting, tried to look around a little even though her eyes were fixed on Kienz. It worked to a degree, though she was only able to look at the scene around her fallen comrade.

This tiny bit of observation paid off in this situation, though before she could voice her findings to the rest of her group, Slert spoke again.

"Streerch, you idiot! I told you to take care of the others! I had Kienz under my control!" she fumed, pacing back and forth. Her ten minutes were now up, and she had to think up a new plan quickly.

"But my Master, you were in trouble," the robot insisted, glancing at its master's right arm.

"No, no arguing. That's a bug I'll have to fix as soon as possible…obey me, no matter what. Damn it, you've really gotten us into a crappy situation this time. Now…" Slert said, though she cut off her order for a short minute. She could feel the poison spreading through her body, and in the middle of a step she seemed unable to move for a split second. She stumbled and fell on her face.

"Master!" Streerch said, reaching for her master.

Slert knew that she didn't have much time left before she completely fell victim to her own poison, and she had to act fast.

"Streerch, get us back home. And bring them…they've seen too much. Don't you mess up this time, you got it?" she hissed, reaching for the PAK that she had lost in the fight.

Streerch saluted the girl, signalling that it'd carry out the instructions to the best of her ability. It really didn't want to mess up; Slert was angry enough already, and if it messed up now, there would be hell to pay.

The robot faced the group of cowering Irkens, knowing what it had to do. It was the routine they would usually use, only this time they were taking hostages instead of dead Irkens.

It held both its hands up, palms out and facing its prey. Without a seconds notice, a hole in the middle of each hand opened up, and heavy duty nets shot out of them.

They tried to get away, but only one managed to evade the nets. She went unnoticed to Slert and Streerch, immediately going to hide behind a nearby dumpster while they were concentrated on the others.

"Master, I am ready now. Shall we go?" Streerch asked, holding the ends of the nets in its hands. With more strength than one would think a robot of that size could muster, it reeled in the hostages and threw them up in the air, catching them on its back.

"Of course! Take us home now, Streerch, before it's too late!" its master yelled, the frustration getting to her. She knew that it would only be a few minutes before she became paralysed, and at that point it would make keeping her alive a whole lot harder.

Streerch acted on Slert's orders without another word, and activated its teleportation device once its master had hold of its arm. There was a blinding flash of light and then…nothing. Slert, her slave, and their hostages were nowhere to be seen.

Skippy, the sole Irken who had somehow escaped nearly unscathed from Slert's sudden raid sat shaking in her boots. She knew she had to do something, but she was in too much shock to do much of anything. Not knowing what to do, she peeked around the corner of the dumpster.

Although she'd sat and stared at the mess of Kienz all over the place only moments earlier, when she caught sight of it now, she couldn't find it in her to stop the rancid vomit from coming up. She puked, and soon after passed out, still hidden by the dumpster.

************

There was a soft crack, and the five were suddenly standing in the home and workplace of Slert and Streerch.

Streerch, who knew the drill very well by now, went right to work on taking care of the hostages. It dragged them to the middle of the room, where a small row of operating tables stood. It was obvious that this room was used to do cruel experiments in, as freakish devices and torturous mechanisms were scattered all over the place.

The robot heaved each one of them onto a table, and tied them up so that they couldn't possibly move, let alone escape.

While Streerch was busy with its job, Slert hobbled over to the worktable in the next room, where she kept all her plans locked up. She was paranoid, and refused to let anyone but herself gaze upon her plans. Not even her own robot slave was worthy of such an honour.

Rummaging through the hundreds of papers and sketches, she finally found a single vial. Inside that skinny tube was the only antidote she had bothered to make, thinking that she wouldn't have to use it this soon, or at all for that matter.

She threw down the knife, which she had been sure to save so the police wouldn't have any chance to analyze her poison, to pick up the only thing that could save her. Her right arm had gone completely numb, and was thus unusable.

Expertly, she popped off the clear tube that protected the needle of the vial, and inserted the tiny needle into her right wrist. It had been prepared before the fact, just in case something like this happened. The contents of the vial drained into her veins, and as it did she felt an odd, jarring sensation.

The antidote was taking effect, cleansing her body of the deadly poison, though it was taking a considerable amount of time. Nonetheless, she was happy that she'd taken the time to make this right after making the poison, which she always did; if she decided to test it on herself like she did with so many of her new creations, she knew she'd need a way to cure herself.

Wanting to let the antidote take full effect and do its job as quickly as possible, she sat down and tried to relax. That didn't really happen, though. Slert was too busy trying to think things through. That, in turn, caused the curing to delay, and it took an excruciatingly long three hours for her to be fully functional again.

She got up from her favourite stolen armchair, still thinking things over.

Releasing them into the outside world now wouldn't do her any good; they'd seen too much and knew her secret. She ultimately decided to keep them as the test subjects she had gone out to capture in the first place. Maybe it hadn't been a total waste…

She exited her inventing room and back into the room that her hostages laid tied up. Streerch had done a good job of making them immobile; there was no way on Irk they could move, or make a bother of themselves by talking.

Slert approached them, and was suddenly struck by something. This didn't seem right to her. There had been more than just three cowering Irkens, she was sure of it.

She turned to Streerch, who was watching over them closely, and asked, "Are…are you sure you got all of them? I mean, it seems a little off."

Streerch, who hadn't stopped during the process of capturing them and tying them up to check if all was good, slyly turned its head to see. Although robots couldn't feel emotions, it knew that this was bad. Slert was sure to blow a casket when she heard the news.

"Master?" Streerch said slowly, not wanting to see its master's reaction, "One of them…may have gotten away."

As expected, Slert went berserk.

"DAMN!" she yelled, grabbing Streerch by the head and throwing it across the room. The robot landed in a pile of unsuccessful experiments, creating a thunderous crashing noise as they all toppled from their perch.

This anger that was coursing through her was unlike any other. It even rivalled her hate of failed experiments, and that was saying something.

And the worst part was, she knew that there was most likely nothing she could do about the matter; by now that last Irken would probably be long gone. So, keeping that in mind, she tried to calm down. There was still something else she had to get done.

After regaining her cool at a speed that seemed almost unirken, she turned to her three hostages and asked them in a voice that was almost too calm, "So, how much have you seen, and what do you know?"

::End of Chapter 2::

So here it is, chapter two! I've determined that I'll have more than enough time to write the few remaining chapters, so I'll be posting a new chapter every Monday-ish... or more like, whenever I feel like it. It'll still be once a week around Monday, though! Possibly, when I start to get the feel that the final writings are going really well, and if I'm still ahead by that time, I'll post twice a week, on Mondays and Thursdays. I have a feeling that time will reveal itself, possibly soon. I'm in the last few steps of the story, and just have to bridge it to the sequel now more or less.

In this chapter we introduce Mica, who is the first of the characters that doesn't belong to me. She is the brainchild of my friend, Invader Katz, and is one of the main characters in her unfinished story, PAK Act. Sadly, PAK Act was never finished.

So yeah, stay tuned next week for another chapter! Things be about to get interesting, as the real plot will start coming into play next chapter.


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter 3

The Irken closest to Streerch, the one named Zayat, tried to tell her abductor what she knew; she was scared for her life, and would do anything if it meant prolonging her life. The only thing was, talking was impossible at the moment.

As soon as even the slightest whimper escaped her throat, a jarring shock traveled through her body. The shock was intense she winced slightly in pain, trying to not let it show that it was getting to her. She'd been in these types of situations before, and knew that showing pain only made matters worse.

Slert couldn't help but laugh. She'd made that device herself, and it always pleased her to see it in working order. However, she needed answers, and wouldn't get them if the subjects weren't able to talk.

"Streerch, please remove the shocky-tape from their mouths so they can tell me what I need to know," she commanded, and the robot immediately obeyed. Soon the three hostages were ready for interrogation.

Streerch recovered from its bashing, quickly getting up to obey its master's orders. In the blink of an eye, the shocky-tape was lying in a fairly large pile of other experiments on the nearby counter, and they were ready to be questioned.

"Now, how much did you see back there? And be honest, because I have ways to find out if you're telling the truth or not," Slert repeated, this time expecting a good answer.

Zayat tried again, and she was indeed now able to talk.

"I-I didn't see much of anything. I was too focused on…Kienz…" she wasn't able to go any farther; at the mention of her deceased friend's name, she had burst out crying. Her sobs were uncontrollable, and Slert quickly caught on to this.

"She's telling the truth," Slert commented, walking up to the table she was strapped to. Just in case, she checked the computer system that was built into the table, to see that her brain waves were consistent with what she was saying. She was indeed telling the truth, and not acting as she had thought at first.

Then she strode over to the Irken on the middle table. With a look in her eyes that expressed both hatred and joy she asked him, "You, what's your name?"

"M-my n-n-n-n-name?" the young male Irken stuttered, clearly fearing his insane abductor.

"Yes, that's what I asked. Of course, if you refuse to cooperate, I could always inject you with this," she said evilly, smiling devilishly. She was really enjoying this one's fear, "It would probably be excruciatingly painful, but it might also get the job done. I don't know for sure."

His reaction, in Slert's mind, was priceless. With terror in his eyes, he wiggled and squirmed, trying to get away from the needle that was inching closer and closer to him.

He, unfortunately, was too scared out of his pants to talk. That was bad for him, because Slert had been dead serious about injecting him with the murky-looking brown liquid.

In the end, he couldn't find it in him to answer her simple question; fear clouded his brain, making him unable to think clearly. By the time he even realized that he had to say his name to save himself, the needle was already sticking in his neck.

It was a few minutes before the liquid took full effect, but when it did, everyone in the room knew it. Chaos was making its second performance for Zayat and Mica.

The Irken started out as calm as could be, aside from being shaken by Slert's sudden rage, as though she'd injected sedatives into him instead of what she'd actually let loose in his body.

In an instant after a few moments of awkward silence, the true effects kicked in.

Out of nowhere, the poor Irken started screaming uncontrollably. He thrashed around in his restraints, trying desperately to escape the pain. His eyes bulged from the sheer intensity of it, and seemed unable to make it stop no matter what he did.

"AHHHHHHH!" he screamed, his eyes bulging farther out of his skull. His fists were clenched to try to distract him from the larger than life pain, his fingers digging deep into the palms of his hands. Blood trickled between his fingers, dripping to the floor.

Mica looked on in sheer horror at what Slert was doing to him, tears streaming down her cheeks. She couldn't bear to see yet another of her closest friends die in front of her eyes, and knew what she had to do to stop it.

"His name is Talloo. HIS NAME IS TALLOO!" she shrieked, desperate to help her friend from dying a horribly painful death, "Make it stop! You know now, so MAKE IT STOP!"

Slert smiled evilly, turning to the female Irken who had spoken up. With a sort of chuckle she replied, "Oh, that's not possible. He refused to answer my question; he deserves what he gets."

"But why? You know now. Please, you have to make it stop before he dies!" she sobbed.

"No, like I said; it's not possible. Not only does he deserve it, but also it's physically not possible. I injected him with an unfinished experiment to test the results. I can't stop it because I don't know how," she said happily. She genuinely enjoyed seeing this Irken in so much pain.

"But…" the ex-reporter muttered, looking down at her feet. She knew that there was nothing else she could do to help her friend Talloo, what with her being strapped to the table and all.

The whole while, Talloo's screaming didn't die down or falter, telling everyone how much pain he was in.

Even Slert didn't yet know the full extent of this new torturing device, as now she was getting her chance to observe it up close. She was hoping for something to happen that was unusual and sickening to the regular Irken, and her wish was granted.

The guy's magenta-coloured eyes continued to bulge, now at the point of no return. Then, with a soft and sickening _popping_ sound, his right eye literally popped, splattering eye juice all over himself and the objects in front of him. Not long after that, his left eye did the same thing.

Mica and Zayat cringed in disgust, looking sideways at their friend. The backs of his eyes were still attached to the inside of his head, though at this point they just drooped out of his eye sockets. The pressure of his eyes pressing against his brain had caused it in turn to splatter all over the inside of his skull when his eyes had popped.

There was no doubt about it; Talloo was totally and completely dead.

"Wow, that was exhilarating!" Slert giggled, a dreamy look in her eyes, "Testing experiments is just…ah, wonderful! Especially when the results are this amazing!"

Mica couldn't believe this; this Irken had just brutally murdered someone, and she was genuinely ecstatic about it. She shot Slert an evil look and said nastily, "How on Irk can you enjoy that? You're a monster!"

"Oh now, you seem to have something important to say," Slert said, striding calmly up to Mica. In an instant, she'd gone from gigging with joy to serious. She continued, now up so close to Mica that she could feel every breath wash over her face, "Well go on, say whatever it is you want. Don't worry, I won't kill you for what you say right now."

The female Irken stayed silent, having a feeling that told her that even if death didn't become of her, she'd still end up in a lot of pain. This crazy abductor didn't seem trustworthy at all.

The mad scientist thought for a moment when the woman didn't answer. She wanted to hear what she had to say, but it seemed that she was too scared for her life to want to talk freely.

"Fine. If you really want it, I suppose I could hold off on the torturing as well. You seem to feel strongly about what you know, and what you think you know, so I guess I could make an exception for you," Slert sighed, tossing a needle to the other end of the room to show the other that she wasn't intending to hurt her just yet.

She stayed silent again, this time thinking. She hated this girl with every fibre of her being for killing two of her closest friends, but on the other hand, she wanted to stay alive. And she figured that if she didn't answer, the maniac would go ahead and kill her for not talking.

"Y-you…how can you enjoy this cruelness? It's not natural, not right. Like…" she started, but trailed off before she could finish the sentence. Just thinking of it made her want to cry.

"Like what? Please, do tell," Slert said. Her mood had fluctuated again, and at the moment she was acting similar to a normal civilized Irken.

Knowing that Slert had to find out eventually with Zayat and herself in custody, she said slowly, "Have…do you know what these clip things represent?"

She tried to point to the greyish square shaped thing attached to her left antennae, but with her being tied tight to the table, that was rather difficult. Slert got the idea, though.

She answered with a 'no', just as Mica had predicted she would. She seemed so unknowing about this.

"It means that we were in a group that opposed the PAK. We did so because they're unnatural and not right, but we're all forced to live with them. We tried to revolt, but it failed, and now we can't live without them.

"Years ago, when the PAK Act was introduced, there was one Irken in particular that stood up for those of us who didn't support it but for whatever reason didn't show it. She tried to lead us through a revolution, but it failed. Katz was taken away, and we were all forced to wear these clips and the things we detested the most: the PAKs. And to remind us of what we can't escape, they made the clips irremovable," Mica said, telling Slert a little bit of history.

"And nobody's heard from Katz since," Zayat added sadly, having recovered from her breakdown a little bit.

"Ah, a wonderful story. But…what does that have to do with me, I wonder…" Slert said, scratching her head and smiling evilly. Her mood was returning to its usual murderous one.

"You. It's a known fact that now that the PAKs connect us to life itself, we can only live for a mere ten minutes without a PAK. You, however…back in the ally you surpassed the time limit, and you're still alive now," Mica explained.

With that, Slert's mood completely changed from calm and civilized back to hostile and insane. These Irkens knew her ultimate secret, and that was something she didn't like in the least.

"Damn you!" she screeched, lunging at the ex-reporter. Her hands closed around the Irken's neck, suffocating her.

"Wait…" Mica rasped, panic almost taking over, "There's…more…"

Slert loosened her grip and pulled away just the slightest bit, but didn't quite move away from her victim completely. If she didn't like what she heard, she wanted to be able to kill without delay to calm her nerves.

"Hurry up and spit it out, or you'll meet the same fate as him," she hissed madly with an evil look in her eyes, pointing at the slumped body of Talloo.

"You," the nearly strangled Irken said, coughing, "have done the impossible. It's like Katz would want it…but you now what? Unlike others, I don't think Katz is dead. In fact, I'm…sure of it."

Slert laughed in her throat. This was getting too corny for her liking, and if it continued, she'd be forced to test out a few more experiments.

"You know what else? It's also a known fact that when she was captured she was tested on, and the Tallest used her DNA in a test tube baby, to see what would happen."

::End of Chapter 3::

Whoa, what's this now? Slert's killed two people in three chapters? Will this be a trend? And more importantly, what's all this talk of this 'Katz' character?

You'll find out sure enough, I assure you.

Katz is the second character that's not mine. She, of course, belongs to Invader Katz, writer of the unfinished PAK Act fic.

Nothing much else to say, really, except next chapter should be out in a week or so. Happy reading! Actually, scratch that! I got to the point where I'm completely done this fanfiction and only have to type out a few chapters, so I'll be posting every Monday and Thursday from now on! Two chapters a week, yeah!


	4. Chapter 4

Chapter 4

"Ah, to see if some of the 'mother's' traits would emerge in the smeet, correct? Now I think we're on the same page," Slert said, her voice turning from hostile to one of understanding. The topic was now on experiments, something she knew very much about.

"Like all experiments, though, there were some…complications. The smeet didn't turn out how they'd hoped; it, when it was born, turned hostile," Mica continued, nodding when Slert guessed right.

Slert stopped for a moment; this story seemed very familiar, as if she'd heard it somewhere before. That seemed unlikely, however, because she'd never heard of Katz or the PAKless.

"The smeet's sudden attack startled the Hatchery Tallest, leaving a window of opportunity for escape. She took that chance, leaving Irken civilization. From time to time she came back, though only to kidnap people and take them back to her base."

Where she'd heard this before was right on the tip of her tongue, but still she couldn't think of where. Not knowing would drive her insane, if she wasn't already.

Mica finished off the story, "This Irken's name…it was Slert. YOU are Katz's test tube smeet, you are the last hope for the PAKless."

It clicked instantly in Slert's mind. Un until this moment, her smeethood and been a blur, but now it was all coming back to her. Everything, including what had driven her to the edge all those years ago.

It had been the Hatchery Tallest Pinn, and that one eye of his that he had always used to scare the newly hatched smeets. That cruel trick had enraged her so much, and she had lashed out.

"It…I…" Slert stammered, not quite sure of what to think.

"Slert…with your knowledge, the PAKless could make a comeback. With your experiments, we could get revenge on those who did this to us. With your help, we could be reunited with our leader, Katz. Please, help us regain our freedom," Mica said sadly, desperately wanting it to become a reality.

Slert, for the first time in her life, didn't know what to think. Now that she remembered most of her past and knew what had happened, she was totally confused.

She knew what she wanted to do, though. There were still a few pieces of the puzzle of her past that were missing, and she was now determined to discover what the complete puzzle looked like. And to do that, she'd need help to get in contact with Katz.

"The art of revenge…" she whispered.

"Yes, I suppose you could call it that," Mica agreed, nodding her head, "I take it that means you'll help us bring back the PAKless?"

Without hesitation, Slert said yes. She was willing to do almost anything to piece together what she didn't' know, but this was beyond her own capabilities. There was no denying it; she needed their help for this.

"Thank you! Thank you! But…would it be OK if you released us from our restraints? This'll be very difficult if we can't move around freely to do our part," Zayat suggested.

Slert wanted to find out more about herself, and she knew that she needed the help that these two were offering, but she still didn't trust them completely. She thought for a moment, and then came up with a solution.

"By all means you can move around freely to help me, but not just yet. You haven't yet fully gained my trust. You'll have to be monitored 26/9, and restraints of some sort will be needed. Until I have that figured out, you'll have to stay here," she said, a slightly cruel tone to her voice. Just because they were working together, that didn't mean she couldn't torture them from time to time.

Zayat had thought as much. Slert was one who liked to be in control, and it wasn't likely that they were going to change that. She was just nervous as to how for she would go with keeping an eye on them.

************

"There, all finished," Slert announced, pulling away from Zayat. Her procedure was complete, as was Mica's, and they were both now fitted with the appropriate equipment so that Slert could monitor them.

Zayat looked down at her right wrist, where a bracelet-type thing was now attached to her skin. It had small red bulbs stretching all around it, which at the moment weren't glowing.

"I've set the range to ten feet, go try to get beyond that distance to test this out," Slert said, wanting to see if the appropriate effect would take place.

Zayat obeyed, and walked away from Slert. She got ten feet away, but as soon as she was an eighth of an inch farther than that, a sharp pain seemed to strike her from nowhere in particular.

It was like thousands of needles were piercing her skin continuously, a searing pain that immobilized her. She somehow found the will and energy to backtrack a few steps. As soon as she was back in the safe zone, the pain immediately dissipated and soon went away altogether.

"Ahaha, so it does work. And better than I'd expected, no less," Slert said, clapping her hands. This experiment was a success, as was the second one Slert had gone ahead with. With that in mind, she decided to explain a few things to her teammates.

Mica, however, beat her to it in a way. She was suspicious that the Irken had done something that she wouldn't like, and it was very obvious when she said, "What have you done? Why can't we leave your side?"

"I was just about to explain that," Slert said, "Those bracelets will keep you from going outside the range I set it to, which is to say how far away from me you can go. That prevents you from committing some of the possible betrayals."

That hit home for Mica. The PAKless had failed partly because of a traitor that had ratted them out. She was perfectly OK with this security measure, for that reason only. If it had been under any other circumstances, she wouldn't have stood for it.

But Zayat brought something up that Mica wasn't in any way OK with. As she held up a mirror to see what else Slert may have done, she pointed to her head and asked, "And why this?"

There was a medium sized line of stitches right at the top of her head, between the bases of her antennae. Mica snatched the mirror from her to find that she too had a set of stitches almost exactly like hers.

"Ah, that. I've implanted chips in your brains as an extra precaution. They send, on a secret frequency that only I know of, information to a handheld computer that I keep locked up. This information ranges from what you're thinking to your body temperature, and everything in between."

This outraged Zayat. She felt she had to voice her opinion, or she'd never be able to stop thinking about how wrong this was.

"But, Slert! You can't do that…what you've just done is exactly what the PAKs are about. You've completely taken away our freedom and what makes us who we are, in a way," she complained.

Mica added angrily, also upset about the ordeal, "Yeah! I mean, I can understand the bracelets, but the chips are taking it too far!"

"So? The bracelets, if figured out correctly, might be able to be cracked. With the chips, I can successfully monitor you, and make sure you don't do anything to jeopardize the mission. Failure is not an option," Slert said casually. She was serious about the last part; she didn't want to fail, no matter what.

They didn't want to accept that, but they knew that there wasn't a thing they could do to stop what Slert was doing. They needed her, and the chips had already been implanted in their brains. Slert had complete control, just how she liked it.

"What you're doing right now is exactly what we're fighting against. For now we'll leave it be, but like everyone, you'll get your just deserts when the time is right. Karma will catch you sometime," Zayat threatened, ending the conversation.

Slert knew that for the time being, that was merely an empty threat. She took note of it nonetheless, though, because one never knows when random information like that can come in handy.

************

After installing the devices on her two new comrades, the three had slipped into a well-needed sleep. None of them had slept for nearly 57 hours, when Slert had first attacked them in the ally.

They slept for a full day, which consisted of 26 Irk hours. When they finally woke up, they most definitely felt refreshed and ready to start their mission.

"Now, first we're going to have to do some snooping. Find out who's who and what's going on out there. We need to get as much information about as many things as we can before we even think of making a plan," Slert said to the others, while munching on a vapple.

"That should be fairly easy," Mica said confidently, "I may not be openly broadcasting since I was fired, but that doesn't mean I've lost contact with people. I still know some pretty high up Irkens that supported the PAKless all those years ago. And those who didn't support it most likely wouldn't care if an employee was a former PAKless, because they all think there's nothing we can do."

"Interesting…yes, those connections will come in very handy," Slert agreed, nodding her head and turning to Zayat, "What will you be able to contribute to this?"

Zayat thought for a moment. She didn't have any special-better-than-anyone-else's skills that came to mind, and she didn't know anyone really important. She wasn't very confident in her undercover work either, and was usually very shy.

"I…I have lots of ideas. Maybe I could help you down here, if that's OK…" she suggested shyly.

"That's a possibility. I look forward to seeing what you're capable of," Slert said in acceptance.

"My master, I have a suggestion as well," Streerch said, butting in. The three had almost forgotten that the little robot had been standing there on the sidelines this entire time, and were now fully aware of its presence.

"Streerch, you should know better than to interrupt. Especially in a discussion as important as this. After we're done here, you're going to get yourself a tune-up," Slert scolded, shoving her robot slave out of the way.

She began to say something, but stopped short when she thought of an idea. She was going to test Mica's skills to see how useful she'd be to her, and what job best suited her ability.

She again turned to face Zayat and told her, "You're now my apprentice, so you'll have to learn the basics. Your first assignment will be to fix Streerch up a bit. I'll give you the specifications later; for this mission it has to be in perfect working order. And I expect you to learn quickly, or I'll have no use for you."

::End of Chapter 4::

So here it is, chapter 4, right on time like I said it would be. See, I told you didn't I? I'm sticking to my deadlines with this one, no acceptions. Heck, my birthday is on Thursday, but I'm still going to update this! NOTHING SHALL STOP ME NOW!  
*ahem*  
Sorry about that haha. Anyway, things are going pretty good over here. I have the last chapters written out and only have to type them, but I'll get to that a little later, probably after my exams and stuff. After that I have an entire summer to myself, and I plan to write a lot. So that should go smoothly.

Mica doesn't belong to me, she belongs to Invader Kat. And now you know Slert's relationship with Katz! It leads her on a wild adventure, which you'll see soon enough. It gets pretty funky later on. It's going to go in great detail since this story will be Slert's entire story: past, present, and what ultimately happens to her. I hope I can pull it off decently.

Stay tuned for chapter 5, which will make its debut on the 11th!


	5. Chapter 5

Chapter 5

That was something Zayat felt she could do. Before the PAKless had come along, she'd dabbled in stuff like mechanics. Apparently others had thought highly of her skills, and she had even been offered a job aboard the Armada, which she had respectfully turned down. Life aboard such a hectic ship wouldn't have been to her liking.

She eagerly nodded her head, wanting to get to work right away. This excited her; the PAKless had a chance of making a comeback, and she'd be playing a major role in its doing so.

"Good, I'll tell you what I need later, after I've dealt with Mica. Mica, how soon can you get a job as some random big guy's right-hand man?" Slert said, ready to get started.

************

"OK, so here's what we'll need," Slert said to Mica, as she rummaged through cupboards of inventions, "You'll need to be able to give us live feed at any given moment, and we'll have to know what you're all saying. For that we'll use a simple camera and a microphone I whipped up just a while ago."

"But…wouldn't they realize what I'm up to?" Mica asked, unsure of how this was going to work.

"Oh, they won't know. The camera will be implanted in your left eye, and the microphone under your skin. That way they'll be invisible, but still able to transmit to me," she explained.

"Hey!" Mica cried in protest, "I don't want to be partially blind! And the security down there is unbelievable! There's no way the camera will go undetected if I need an eye scan to gain access to places."

"Quit your worrying! I've thought this all out already, OK? You have nothing to worry about, I assure you," Slert said. That was the end of that, and they were soon getting ready to commence the operation.

It had been a mere two days since they'd come up with everyone's rolls in this operation, and already Mica had found herself a guaranteed position as the Tallest Newscaster's right-hand lady.

She was very well liked by most everyone on the local news teams, and when she'd approached one of the big cheeses, it was as if he'd been wishing for this since she'd been fired. He didn't care about her past, as she thought he'd might.

"A-are you sure about this? I mean, what if–" Mica started, though Slert cut her off. She was starting to get nervous now that it was actually coming time to do this, and couldn't restrain her worries.

"nothing will really chance, aside from the fact that you'll be relaying raw information back to me on a constant basis," Slert said, in a shoddy attempt to comfort her pawn, "You'll be asleep while I install the components, and afterward it'll be as if nothing ever happened."

Mica sighed. She knew that these measures were necessary, and she also knew there was no getting out of it. She was under Slert's complete control, and there was nothing she could do right now to change it.

She climbed up onto the operating table that they would be working on, and waited for a few short moments before the slightly psychotic doctor arrived, equipment in hand.

"OK, let's get this done before I start to get nervous again," Mica suggested, as she shifted her weight. She could feel the queasy feeling returning already, and tried her hardest to suppress it.

Slert nodded, and placed the camera and microphone on a separate table with care. She reached over and pulled on a tube on the table, which was attached to a considerably large tank of sleeping gas, one that she'd stolen on one of her outings.

"So, you'll fall asleep soon and bla bla bla," Slert said, as she pressed the mouthpiece to the Irken's mouth, "Heh, I never was one for all of that feel-better medical explanations and stuff. Let's get this show on the road, shall we?"

Slert being so up front about this didn't do anything to ease Mica's nervousness about this, but she had to go with it anyway. Soon enough she was indeed asleep, and Slert began the operation that would give them a major advantage in the long run.

************

The operation was finished, and could be described as a big success. The camera hadn't done any damage whatsoever to Mica's eye, and it wasn't noticeable in the least. The microphone too had worked out nicely, and it too couldn't be seen. You couldn't even tell that Slert had implanted any of it; it was a job well done.

Just in case, though, they felt inclined to test them out; they didn't want her to be carrying around defective products, for that would be completely useless to them. Just as Slert had predicted, the visibility from the camera was perfect and the sound recordings were crystal clear.

"Wow, you really can't notice it, can you?" Mica marvelled for the hundredth time, as she looked in the mirror, trying to see the camera. She had no success in detecting it, and soon gave up.

"Yes, yes, I know. I'm a genius," Slert gloated matter-of-factly.

Despite the fact that Mica hated it when Slert acted so high and mighty, this time she didn't care. The girls was right, she'd done and outstanding job. She had the right to do a bit of gloating.

The two sat there for a few moments before moving on to the next order of business; their plan of action now that everything was prepared and about to fall into place.

"Now, you'll be starting tomorrow, correct?" Slert asked, wanting to clarify things. She didn't want something minuscule to mess up the entire project, and wasn't taking many chances.

Mica nodded, "That's right. But…how am I going to get from here all the way there every day? And back too, no less…"

"Don't worry of such meaningless things," Slert shrugged, "I've set your bracelet so that this will work. If need be and you need to get to an interview or something, you can ask me to lengthen the range. That way you'll be able to freely do any reporter-type things you'll need to do, and avoid suspicion."

"That's cool and all, but you didn't answer my question. How will I get there and back in a way that's not suspicious?" she asked again, in a simpler way so that Slert would get her point. She was determined to get an answer.

Slert let out a shot laugh and said, "You won't!"

That statement confused the girl to no end. She asked, "But…then how will I work? If I don't go, we won't get any information. And if I don't get us any information, this whole thing was all for nothing!"

"Hold on, hold on!" Slert said, now laughing harder, "Just because you're not going to travel between the two points every day that doesn't mean you won't be working. Quite the contrary."

"But…what…?"

"I've researched your dead companion Talloo and discovered that he only lived a few blocks from the news station you've been hired at. Nobody but us knows he's dead, so you can live there. Nobody will suspect a thing; they'll merely think that you moved in with him for work purposes," Slert explained, as she twiddled her thumbs and smiled widely.

Mica stayed silent for a moment, thinking it over. It would make her seem a lot less suspicious, and living in town like that would make her life a great deal easier to be sure. There was no question; this was the best possible choice, hands down.

She nodded silently in agreement, though doing so seemed to hurt her. It wasn't the surgery she'd went through, either.

Although she knew this would help their cause, she'd be constantly reminded of the friend that Slert had effortlessly killed, and how she was now using his death to her advantage.

"Good," Slert said, taking no notice of the sadness in Mica's eyes, "We'll get you moved down there tonight, so that you can start bright and early in tomorrow morning. They'll never know a thing."

"OK, but…" Mica started meekly, looking down at the ground in what appeared to be shame, "Can we drop by my place first to pick up a few things? There're a few personal things I'm hesitant to part with."

"Yes, of course. I assume you'll need a bit of your own stuff as well…and I should get Zayat to build you a SIR for emergencies as well. She seems to be quite skilled at all that technical stuff, and I'm actually really glad she wasn't the one I killed," Slert said without thinking.

That hurt Mica deeply, but she tried not to show it. Slert obviously didn't care, and she had a feeling that she couldn't change that on the spot like this.

Soon the two were ready to go, and Slert called for Streerch. The faithful robot slave was very quickly standing beside them, ready to do its master's bidding.

"We're going to be teleporting to just outside the city as to not gain any unwanted attention. Then you can take us to where you live to get your things. Sound good?" Slert asked, to clarify the plan.

"Yes, I suppose so…" Mica trailed off. She was slightly embarrassed about having to show Slert her home, but she still wanted to salvage what she could before starting her new life.

"Good, then let's get going," the crazy Irken said happily, putting her hand on the robot's head. She waited until Mica had done the same before ordering, "Streerch, take us just outside the city."

Streerch obeyed, and as when they had arrived at Slert's house, with a blinding flash of light the three of them disappeared.

With a small popping sound they appeared behind a large grey building. Once again it was night, and the streets were relatively deserted. The perfect time to pillage Mica's house.

From there Mica took over, leading Slert to her home. Slert followed, looking around curiously as they went. Mica seemed to know where they were going, but they weren't anywhere close to the residential part of Irk.

They passed many shops, each selling something different. They took not much notice of these stores, though, and continued on until they reached a very narrow alleyway.

It was really only big enough for one Irken to walk through, so they traveled single-file until they got to the middle. There Mica bent down to pick up a few objects.

"Why are you rummaging through THAT?" Slert asked abruptly, pointing to the cardboard box that she'd crawled into. The thought of it as appalling trash, really, and wondered why anyone would do such a thing.

Mica turned around, still on her hands and knees inside the box. Looking up at her forced companion she replied softly but with some force in her voice, "This is why I want to help you get back at the Tallest."

Slert didn't get it, and so asked, "What d'you mean?"

"Because of the Tallest, I'm homeless. They ruined my life, and for that I want to make them pay," she said, looking sadly at an old picture.

::End of Chapter 5::

The plan, it is hatched! An attack on the Tallest, what will it lead to? You'll see soon enough. I'm about to introduce a few new characters in the next few chapters, but for now it's still just these three.

Next update will come on Monday.

Mica (c) Mizucloud  
everything else (c) me  
Zim universe (c) JV


	6. Chapter 6

Chapter 6

"Homeless…" Slert muttered, thinking deeply. She knew what it was like to be one of the homeless, and was something she wouldn't wish upon anyone.

But she didn't understand why Mica would be homeless. She seemed smart and nice enough, so why was she without a home? It puzzled her, and the two sat in silence for a few moments.

After a few long moments Slert broke the silence, "But how? You seem like a perfectly decent person, so why would you be in a situation like this?"

She could see why she'd been homeless; she'd been on the run since smeethood, after going on a killing spree. But she couldn't understand why someone like Mica would have ended up on the streets.

Mica thought for a moment, remembering how it had happened in perfect detail. After taking a deep breath to calm herself, she told her story.

"Years ago, when the PAKless were still in full swing, I was a full-time reporter. Of course, I supported Katz's cause, and expressed my support openly. Others agreed, even my co-workers and superiors, but that meant nothing," she started, the memories coming back to her at a rapid pace.

"Well if they agreed, then why didn't they help you when you were in need?" Slert blurted, not believing what she was hearing.

"Irken society. The Tallest were trying their hardest to crush the PAKless, and were punishing anyone who was associated with the organization. They ordered my boss to fire me, and he did so to keep his own job. From there things just kind of went downhill; nobody wanted to take in a PAKless supporter, out of fear of their own well being," she explained sadly, still gazing longingly at the photo.

Slert stayed silent, not sure of what to say. This news only gave her more reason to resent the Tallest and take her revenge on them. Curiously, she took a gander of the picture Mica was holding.

"It's a picture of the PAKless, back before all this happened and everything collapsed on top of us. It was so long ago…" Mica sighed, after catching sight of Slert looking over her shoulder.

She pointed out the members of the PAKless, and Slert learned a little more about them. There had been many members of the original group, though according to Mica, very few of them remained.

Looking at the Irkens in the picture, Slert couldn't help but feel a slight twinge of regret. A few of the originals, who could have lent their services to try to achieve the goal again, were now dead because of her.

She quickly shook off this feeling, though, so they could get on with their business.

"So…do you have everything you need? We should get you to your new residence as soon as possible, so that nobody gets suspicious," Slert said abruptly to change the subject, wanting to get out of there.

"Yes…this sadly is nearly all I have," Mica said solemnly, getting up off her knees. She tucked the photo and a few changes of ragged clothes into a small bag she'd borrowed from Slert, and turned to her companion. Although she was hesitant to use Talloo's house, she knew it was probably the only way to bring the PAKless back.

With that, the two set off for the apartment that Talloo had owned, not wasting any time at all and keeping as secretive and quiet as they could along the way.

************

Zayat sat in the study, carefully looking over a set of plans. They were the blueprints for the SIR named Streerch, the robot that Slert had requested she tune up.

If they hadn't disappeared so suddenly to get Mica to her new house, she'd be working on the thing right then. But that wasn't possible at the moment, seeing as how it was with Slert, so she figured that finalizing the plans was the best thing for her to do for the time being.

With a small sigh she carefully placed the blueprints on the table. She'd been checking and rechecking her plans for the past hour, and was sure that they were as accurate as Irkenly possible.

She had time on her hands. Too much time, in her opinion. She had to find something to do while Slert was away, or she'd surely go insane. And that was something she most definitely did NOT want.

Looking around the room, she wondered if she could find anything to keep her busy. Scattered around the room she found screwdrivers and mechanical squeedlyspooches, and everything in between.

"I think I just got an idea…" she muttered, as she picked up a small circuit board, a thoughtful smile on her face. She knew that with Slert working on the battle plans and sorting everything out and such, and with Mica undercover, she'd be alone for a lot of the time.

Twirling the screwdriver expertly in her hands, she formulated her plan in her head. This was something she'd do in secret, for she wasn't sure if Slert would approve of it or not. It wasn't something that would jeopardize their mission, but Slert seemed to like to run a tight ship.

She took the screwdriver and the circuit, tightening the wires and making sure they were in working order. Soon everything was, and her plan evolved. It was all coming together, and she began to get excited.

She was just about to begin gathering the components she would need to make this plan a reality when she heard a small cracking sound. She'd come to know that sound as one that announced Slert's arrival.

As fast as she could so that Slert wouldn't realize what she'd been up to, she placed everything she'd gathered back in the places they'd come from. Now that she was back, Zayat's project would have to wait.

"Zayat, what's the progress so far?" Slert asked, striding into the room. Streerch was with her and Mica wasn't, which probably meant that everything had gone smoothly and she was now residing at Talloo's old house.

"I've discovered where the malfunction originated, and have a good idea on how to fix it," she said confidently, "I take it Mica's fairly settled in?"

"Yes, though being there with Talloo dead seems to have gotten to her a bit. She'll be OK in time, though, but there's no telling how long that will take," she sighed, shaking her head.

Zayat said sympathetically, "Ah, that's understandable. I don't know if I'd be able to live with myself if I was in her shoes either."

She'd never thought of the subject, but now that it had come up, she didn't know how she was living with herself in the first place. She was all alone and hated the strict rules, and this intrigued her. She didn't know how she was doing it, she just was.

"Oh yes!" Slert said, giving a small hop to go with the idea she'd just remembered, "I've been thinking of something. I like what I've seen from you so far with your mechanical building skills and such, and I'd like you to help Mica with something. For her security and for her to use as she sees fit, I'd like you to build her a SIR."

Zayat thought for a moment and then said, "I'm sorry, Slert, but that won't be possible."

"Oh? And why not?" Slert asked. She didn't know why Zayat would be refusing her service, since she could end the Irken's life at whatever time she pleased. The girl defying her in such circumstances baffled Slert.

"Because SIR units are supposed to be used exclusively for assisting Invaders. If she owned a SIR it would look suspicious and possibly blow her cover. I can, however, make her a robot from scratch, if you'll allow it," she explained confidently, knowing that she could take on the project she was signing up for.

"Yes…you're right. I must admit, you have a good eye for this. Go ahead and design a robot then. You can make it however you like, just make sure it's fully functional when you're done. And don't forget to put some hidden weapons in there," Slert instructed.

"I wouldn't think about NOT putting them in," Zayat agreed smiling with a thoughtful nod, "You never know when they'll come in handy."

With that the two said a silent goodbye, and Slert walked out of the room to work on her own part of the mission. Zayat, eager to put her skills to use, immediately began jotting down ideas and sketching a design.

************

Skippy lifted her head slowly, looking around groggily as she did so. She didn't actually know how long she'd been out of it, but it felt like eons. She couldn't quite remember why she'd fainted in the first place, until she saw the gruesome sight. That along with something else told her how long it had really been.

Crumpled a few feet away from her was the body of her dead companion, Kienz. Judging from the fair bit of decay spread over his body and the smell of the place, she'd been out for it for quite a while.

How Irkens could just walk right by a corpse like this and not do anything she didn't know. It confused her, how Irkens these days just didn't care. Looking at the body, she nearly puked again.

She didn't have time to dwell on that concept, though. She had to get out of there. She remembered that before she'd passed out, she had realized that Slert had lived on without a PAK.

And she knew Mica too well to think she wouldn't do anything. There was no doubt in her mind that she'd seen Slert live without her PAK as well, and would do anything to convince the crazy Irken to join forces with her.

"Hehehe…" Skippy laughed softly, thinking of her friends, "She'd do anything for the PAKless, even now…"

Knowing that Mica had a way of getting to people and could usually convince Irkens in her favor, she decided to make a plan of her own. She was completely convinced that her friend would persuade Slert to help them, and she wanted to think that she didn't have to worry about them.

As well, thinking that Mica would be attempting to take action, she wanted to do her part too. The PAKless were all she had, even if it was more of a memory than anything, but that didn't matter; she too would do anything for the organization.

Wanting to waste no more time, she got up. With one last sad glance at her fallen comrade, she strolled out from behind the dumpster and out onto the road, which was bustling with busy Irkens.

Immediately she noticed that everything was different. The foul smell had disappeared and had been replaced with the sweet scent of irkberry pie, which wafted down from the bakery down the street. A few people jumped slightly when she walked onto the sidewalk, but other than that her presence went unnoticed.

She turned to the left to walk away from the scene, trying not to let the drastic change get to her, and caught a glimpse of the ally. Instead of seeing the mutilated body of her friend, she saw a normal alleyway, clean of anything suspicious.

::End of Chapter 6::

So here it is, chapter 6, as promised! Pasts be getting explained and events be getting set into motion, yes they do!

Had my birthday last week. It renewed my love for Jhonen Vasquez and his works, as I got some Invader Zim necklaces and a pin, as well as (finally) JTHM. Oh my god, they're just so awesome. There's nothing left to say on that topic.

Uhm... yeah. As always, Mica belongs to my friend Invader Katz. New characters will be coming up soon. Only (sort-of) new character in here is Skippy, though she was already there. She's just getting a personality and stuff now!

Next chapter will come out on Thursday.


	7. Chapter 7

Chapter 7

"A hologram…but it's for the best. Irkens don't like to see this sort of thing," Skippy whispered, quick to accept the fact. She knew that if the PAKless were making a comeback it should be kept quiet as long as possible, and she had to applaud how Slert had thought ahead.

As she walked down the street many pedestrians gave her odd looks. She didn't blame them, really; her clothes were filthy, she reeked, and she just generally looked a mess. That was an advantage for her, though, because nobody really bothered to approach her.

"I have to tell her…" she said softly to herself, to make herself feel better about what had happened. Though she regretted Kienz's death, it was for the better in her mind; if not for him, they never would have found out such important information and ultimately would have been dead.

She walked on until she came to one garbage can in particular. Placed nicely at the corner of a street, near the opening to another alleyway it was a normal looking garbage can, with nothing out of the ordinary about it. Skippy, however, knew its secret.

Lifting the lid up, she looked inside. It was full of revolting trash as usual, but she'd have to do it anyway. Although she didn't like this method in the least, it was the only one available to her, and she knew she had to utilize its usefulness.

The underside of the lid had a screw loose where it was connected to the handle, something that an ordinary Irken would overlook without fail. She screwed it in all the way, and another handle emerged, this one on the underside of the metal. This was how she'd cover her tracks.

With a slight cringe of disgust and a gulp to get the lump out of her throat, she stepped into the garbage can. She could feel the half finished burgers squish under her shoeless feet, and the partly full drinks spill over her legs. It was truly disgusting.

Wanting to get out of the filth as soon as possible, she held the lid over her head. Tightening her grip on the inside handle she felt the garbage beneath her fall away, and soon she was falling with it.

Skippy landed with a thump on the concrete floor, no longer holding the lid. It had stayed with the trashcan, not being able to fit through the hole. The garbage was gone as well, having been sucked back up into the can to make it seem normal.

She got up and rubbed her bottom. It hurt just as much as always, which was actually quite painful; there was nothing at all to break her fall, and it always felt like her butt would split in two after she got down there.

"You know, you really should get someone to fix that," she called out, her voice echoing off the walls of the massive underground room. Although much of this place was drenched in shadows, she knew there was someone there.

As expected, an answer soon came. "You know very well I can't find anyone. And our mechanic was killed last month. If only people would open up and weren't so afraid to show what they believe in…" a female's voice said sadly.

"You don't have to remind me, I was only joking…trying to lighten the dark mood," Skippy defended, knowing that it didn't really matter much. The other stayed silent, mourning their friends' deaths.

Skippy soon stepped forward toward the voice. It was indeed coming from one of the shady areas, and she thought she knew why. Along the way she grabbed a light bulb and, using the spider legs built into her PAK, headed for the roof.

Up there she found a light socket, though it had no bulb. She screwed in the one she'd picked up, illuminating that part of the room and revealing the one she'd been talking to. Since the Jeq the mechanic had been so brutally killed, the place had been falling apart it seemed.

"Ah man, you ruined the mood!" the taller than average Irken complained, though Skippy took no notice of this. The new Irken saw this and continued, "You don't come down here often. I presume it's a dire emergency?"

"Tallest Tye Dye, I have good news and bad news," Skippy stated, bowing her head.

A slightly offended tone entered the Irken's voice. "I would prefer that you didn't call me by that any more. But yes, go on," the Irken named Tye Dye urged, wanting to hear the news that she had brought.

"Well…you know how my…or should I say, Kienz's…group is the last one that's truly loyal to you and the PAKless, and how we're the ones who provide you with what you need to live on a daily basis?" Skippy asked, getting slightly nervous.

"Yes…" Tye Dye said slowly. By the tone in Skippy's voice she got a bad feeling about this, and somehow knew that it couldn't be good.

"Well…I'm the only one still alive that I know of. I have a good feeling Mica at least is still alive, though I can't say for sure," she said bluntly.

Tye Dye nearly fainted. Her whole support network had been wiped out in the last few months, with only a few of them left today. And now that number was significantly decreased as well.

"So…first Mech tries to ruin the world, then both of us get outgrown, sending us into hiding, and then the few people who were truly loyal were slaughtered?" she exploded, the frustration getting to her. It was all going downhill, and at the moment was at an all-time low.

"Hold on!" Skippy said loudly before Tye Dye could say anything else. Although the hippie wasn't usually violent, there was no telling what she could do under such stress. Once she calmed down a bit she continued, "There's more, you haven't heard the good news."

Tye Dye was reluctant, but she gestured for her companion to continue nonetheless.

"OK, so that was the bad news. I know how you feel, but there's still good news. Although the others' deaths are…tragic…in the process I'm certain we found Katz's daughter," she explained, now with a slightly hopeful tone to her voice.

"I see…" the other said, also now with a twinge of hope and joy in her voice, "Are...are you sure?"

"Like I said, I'm certain. I couldn't believe it either when I first saw, but now that I think of it, it was definitely her. She lived without a PAK, something that only she knows how to do," she explained excitedly.

"That settles it…" Tye Dye said happily, "It really must be Katz's daughter. You know, this could mean a new hope for us."

"That's exactly what I thought," Skippy concurred, nodding her head, "And you know what I think? I think that although the others have gone into hiding for all these years and masked their beliefs…if they knew of this, they'd rejoin us."

"That could very well be. I'll organize a meeting with the only other person who knows we're living down here. I'll ask them to get in contact with the PAKless they know, and then I'll address them all, so they know that it's not a lie," she planned, while she paced back and forth, her multi-colored robe dragging behind her.

"Good plan, Tye Dye. If they see you coming out of hiding, they'll know we're serious. But, I have one question: what can I do to help? We've come this far, there's no way on Irk I want to be excluded," Skippy said, looking up at her superior with hopeful eyes.

"You…if you'll accept the position, you could be my advisor and helper in general," Tye Dye offered, after a moment of thinking, "With Kerg and everyone else dead, you can pretty much have any roll in this you want."

Skippy's face lit up with joy, not because everyone was dead, but because she had the chance to be the former Tallest's advisor. It was a position that Irkens would kill for, and it was being handed to her just like that. Her, an average Irken. It was unbelievable.

Tye Dye's voice broke her train of thought, "But of course, we'll have to get you into some nicer clothes than that. I have to say, you reek!"

Her face fell, a bit embarrassed. She did smell horrible, and her look didn't do much for her either, and the thought of looking like this in the presence of her idol made her feel a feeling of disgrace.

The only thing was, she didn't know what to do. She knew nothing about fashion or clothes.

The former Tallest saw the worried look on her face, and comforted her.

"Don't worry, Skippy. I have just the outfit in mind for you. You'll love it, I promise," she said, picturing the outfit in her head. It was a splendid one indeed, if she said so herself.

"Oh…I don't know if I could accept that…" Skippy trailed off, looking at what Tye Dye was wearing. It was a tie-dye design meant to bring out her peace loving qualities, something that she wasn't particularly fond of.

"Don't be ridiculous! Like I said, once you see what I have in store for you, you won't want to refuse!" Tye Dye insisted, apparently blind to the fact that Skippy really didn't want this.

Skippy gave up soon after that. There was no getting out of it, and soon she'd have her very own brand new outfit, designed and made by Tye Dye herself. Although she doubted her fashion sense, she had to admit it was a bit of an honor.

************

It had been only a short few days since Skippy had brought the news, and already Tye Dye had an outfit ready for her. It figured, though; she had all the time in the world, and had devoted herself to completing the task.

"Are you ready?" Tye Dye said happily, her hands held behind her back to hide the new outfit. She had quite a surprise for the Irken.

Skippy looked up from the TV, which was broadcasting a news program, an interested look on her face. She hoped with all her being that it wouldn't be anything tie-dyes. With just a hint of desperation in her voice she asked, "May I please see it? The suspense is killing me…"

The former Tallest gladly obliged. As she pulled the outfit out from behind her back she yelled happily, "Surprise!"

A surprise it was, though not of the variety that Skippy was hoping for.

It was just as she had feared; tie-dye. Lots and lots of tie-dye, in a pattern that was nearly overwhelming when paired with the colors that had been chosen.

It was a two-piece, with a shirt and a pair of pants. And not only was it horrid in general, it was terribly out of date; retro, if you will. The pants were huge bellbottoms, and the shirt was the baggiest thing she'd ever seen.

"Th-thank you…" Skippy stuttered, numbly taking the outfit from Tye Dye. Her eyes watered, the clothes bringing her spirit down very much, and nearly making her cry.

Tye Dye stood there for a moment, looking at Skippy's expression. She stood completely still like that until she couldn't stand it any longer. Without any warning at all, she burst out laughing.

"Y-you didn't actually think that was your outfit, d-did you?" she laughed, wiping a tear from her eye. She found the whole thing absolutely hilarious.

"You mean…WHAT? This isn't really my new outfit?" Skippy gaped, staring blankly at the wacky Irken in front of her. One thing was for sure; Tye Dye could have a horrible sense of humor at times.

"Correct," she smiled, "That's an outfit I own, from before I was suited to be a Tallest. I'd still wear them, but with all the body modifications I was forced to go through, they no longer fit. I keep them nonetheless, though, because they hold dear memories of mine."

"But…then where's the outfit you made for me?" Skippy asked, now completely confused. She'd let the anger of the situation go, looking at the bright side.

"Right here," she said, walking toward a room to the side of them. It was the room she'd been cooped up in all day, sewing the outfit. She beckoned for Skippy to follow, and follow she did.

Inside the room was a mass of assorted sewing tools, including a primitive earth sewing machine; they were short on resources. In the far corner stood a manikin, and that full body manikin wore a magnificent outfit.

Upon seeing it Skippy immediately gave a jump for joy and tried it on. It was something she just couldn't resist.

::End of Chapter 7::

Sorry for the late post. I had to do some last-minute studying for my exams... YUCK.

Here we introduce Former Tallest Tye Dye, my first attempt at a Tallest. There's one other I've done, and he'll play a part in the story too, but he comes later. Tye Dye's story will be explained a bit later in the story, as will many of the characters introduced. I'm trying to at least give a little bit of backstory to everyone at some point through the story. Also, I know it's jumping around from person to person quite a bit right now. That'll change soon enough, don't worry.

Not much else to say, to be honest. Next chapter should be up on Monday.


	8. Chapter 8

Chapter 8

"Ah, very stylish. It looks so good on you!" Tye Dye said happily, as Skippy emerged from a spare room, gazing at her accomplishment. In her eyes it was superb, and Skippy had to agree with her on this one.

"T-Tye Dye! It's amazing! How did you do it? H-how did you know this is what I'd like?" Skippy gaped, twirling around. Her dress trailed behind her elegantly.

It was a wonderfully sinister dress, though at the same time it had a sort of glamour to it. The end dragged behind her, curling up at the tip. She had to say, though, that it was the collar that was her favourite part; it branched out, adding much to the sinister look she loved so much.

"Well, I had lots of free time on my hands. And you being one of the only Irkens I've known for years means that I do **know** you," she laughed, "And you know what? Just because I'm a hippie, that doesn't mean I don't have a normal fashion sense."

She seemed a little offended from the sound of that last statement. Skippy sensed that and was about to apologize when Tye Dye spoke again.

"Now, I've already begun the plans, and I have to say, they look quite convincing. Skippy, have you gathered any information yet?" she asked intently.

In all the excitement of her new awesome outfit, she'd nearly forgotten of the news she had to tell.

My Ta-uh…Tye Dye, I actually do have something to report to you," she said happily, "While you were busy making this wonderful dress for me, I was taking a small break and seeing what was going on in the world. You'll never guess what I found."

Tye Dye sighed, hating the suspense, "Tell me woman! What is it?"

Skippy let out a short laugh before continuing, "I was watching the big television screen in Irk Square, and one of the major Irkens out there was reporting something, and I discovered something. It's just as I though, Mica is alive; she was in the background, waiting for something."

"Ah…so she must be working undercover if she's back in that business, and is most likely under the orders of Katz's daughter. Skippy, you must get a way to get in contact with her," Tye Dye suggested.

They both knew that getting a letter to her would be near impossible, but both were thinking hard of a solution nonetheless. They had to get in contact with her, and they were determined to find a way.

"Tye Dye…the only way I can think of to get in contact with Mica would be to write her a letter and send it to where she works. But if we do that, there's a good chance someone will read it before her," Skippy hypothesized.

Tye Dye narrowed her eyes, an idea coming to mind.

"That…could actually have a chance of giving us an advantage," she said slowly, thinking it over.

That confused Skippy slightly and she asked to clarify, "How would that be a good thing? It could ruin the whole operation."

"Skippy," Tye Dye said slowly, "Do you have any idea how many big-shot Irkens out there are secretly former PAKless? Most of them, in fact, and most are probably still willing to help with a comeback."

"Ah…I see…when should I have this letter done by, then?" she asked enthusiastically, eager to get started. A smile crossed her face as she thought of the possibilities.

Soon they were both busy with their jobs, wanting to get the show on the road as soon as possible. It was going to be a grand thing, and they could feel it.

************

"Mica, get in here!" the beefy Irken commanded, as he read the piece of paper in his hands. He couldn't believe his eyes, and wanted his assistant to get in there right that moment.

Mica came running through the door, nearly tripping a few times. She skidded to a stop in front of his giant desk, sweating slightly. She'd gotten there as fast as she could, and had to wait a moment to catch her breath.

"What…what is it, Mr. Fleek, sir?" She asked between deep breaths of air.

"This friend of yours, Skippy, does she tell the truth often?" he asked, truly wanting to know the answer.

Skippy. Immediately Mica remembered the name, along with the last time she'd seen her. She'd thought Skippy dead, possibly killed secretly by Slert on a mission where she went to kill the survivors, but her boss asking her something such as this made her think otherwise.

"Y-yes, why?" she stuttered, her level of excitement suddenly and quickly growing for reasons even she didn't know. Skippy being alive could be good, but she could have been captured and told them about her.

With a sigh Mr. Fleek handed her the worn piece of paper. At first glance it appeared to be a lengthy note, but upon closer observation she realized it was a letter of great importance.

She silently read the letter, which was addressed to her. At first she was mad for him opening her mail, but that anger soon dissipated and was replaced with something else. Her eyes grew wide in shock as she read on, and a smile crept across her face.

"N-n-n-no way! Is this for real?" she said, her brain struggling to process this fortunate turn of events.

"In all certainty," her boss said confidently, a certain light twinkling in his eyes.

"But…the PAKless making a comeback? And Tallest Tye Dye…I can't believe it!" she gaped, though it was slightly fake. She was glad to see they were all right, but she wasn't sure if she could show her true reaction in front of her boss. Either way, though, this was big news.

"Exactly what I thought. Now, Mica, I have a question for you: should I announce this publicly, or bring it straight to the Tallest Red and Tallest Purple?" he asked.

It was a test. He wanted to see where her alliances lay, and she knew it.

If she said to announce it, he'd know that she was still loyal to the PAKless, in which case she could be reported. If she said to report it, all hope would be lost. It was a 50/50 chance, one in which she was caught either way.

In the end she went with her instinct. "I think you should announce it to the public. The Tallest will hear of it anyway, and this way all the supporters will be in one place, exposing them for what they really are. That'll make it easier for the Tallest to get them," she said, trying to make it sound like she wasn't a supporter.

Mr. Fleek saw through her act easily, and told her right away.

"Mica, it's perfectly OK. I knew all along, even before I hired you, that you still support them to this day. It's one of the main reasons you're here today, we think on the same level," he laughed, "I myself am actually a supporter too, though I've kept it secret from the beginning."

Mica stared at him wide-eyed, not believing what she was hearing. Her boss had been a supporter this whole time, and she hadn't even known. He was good, she had to admit.

Her shock soon wore off, though, and when it did Mr. Fleek continued, this time, sharing his opinion.

"Now, I'm all for this, bringing everyone together. If it has a chance to bring the PAKless back, I'll do anything. Announcing this will alert all the other supporters, giving us a better chance of succeeding," he said.

"Yes…you're right as always, sir," Mica agreed, nodding her head. By the tone of his voice she could tell that the conversation was about to turn to the more serious side of this. As it turns out, she was exactly right.

"Mica, if we do this, there WILL be consequences. Best-case scenario, we both get locked up at Seven for the rest of our lives. I'm willing to take that chance, but what about you?" he said, telling it to her straight. There was no goofing around now.

"Sir, you have no idea how involved I already am," she chuckled, "I have a feeling imprisonment is the least of my worries."

Her boss shot her an odd look, and then randomly burst out laughing, "Well, I suppose that's a yes then!"

Mica joined in the laughter, and soon they quieted down. Their decision was made; they were going on with this, and were prepared to accept the results of their actions, be they good or bad.

************

"Slert, I'm done Streerch's tune up," Zayat said happily, "I hope you don't mind, but I've made a few improvements as well."

Slert poked her head into the room and saw the thing sitting on the table. It was Streerch, all right, but it had one very noticeable difference, something that wasn't there when Zayat had started her work on it.

One of its hands had been completely replaced, and now attached to its right arm was a giant claw. The blades of the claw were huge, and were sharp enough to cut effortlessly through steel.

"Ah, creative!" Slert applauded, taking a closer look at her robot slave, "If I just put some poison on these, they'll be the perfect addition. Very well done, Zayat!"

Zayat beamed, proud of her accomplishment. She let that joy soak in for a few moments before making her second announcement of the day.

"Slert, I've completed Mica's robot as well, if you'd like to take a look," she offered.

"Oh, you're good. A fast worker, and efficient too by the looks of it," Slert said slyly, looking around for the robot. As she was searching Zayat reached into one of the drawers nearby and pulled it out.

"I call it a BOA, a Basic Operational Assistant. It should be able to tend to Mica's needs pretty well. It's equipped with some basic defence systems and weapons, as well as the ability to project holograms on command," she said, introducing the new breed of robot.

Slert examined the BOA, a satisfied look crossing her face. Before she had the chance to talk, however, Zayat continued with her explanation.

"It only listens to voice commands, and only one voice will work. That will be Mica's voice, obviously. It's design is basic and sleek, to avoid confusion," she finished.

"Very nice. The hologram feature will make it easier to get it to Mica, and should she get caught the voice system will make sure the Tallest don't get any unwanted information. Good thinking," Slert said, picking up the BOA.

Right away Slert took it away, eager to get it to its owner. She'd need it as soon as possible. Slert had a strong feeling about that.

Before leaving completely, though, she turned around to face Zayat again.

"Zayat, I have a feeling the new age of war will be starting sooner than we think. If you want, you can make a robot for yourself as well, for protection. Actually, I would recommend it," she cautioned.

With that she turned on her heel and left, leaving Zayat all along once again. She didn't mind, though; Slert had important business to attend to, and had to get it done.

She smiled and said to herself, "Oh, no need to tell me that. I'm already nearly done…"

::End of Chapter 8::

This week has caught up with me! I'll be posting two chapters today to make up for the missed one. After this I PROMISE I'll stay on track.

So in this chapter we see that Zayat has some talent and that things are starting to come together. Things'll get more interesting soon.


	9. Chapter 9

Chapter 9

It had been a mere few weeks since Mica had received the letter, and already they were ready to go. They'd been communicating back and forth via letters and holograms of themselves, and now Tye Dye and Skippy were sitting with them in the biggest news room.

The building was deserted, for Mr. Fleek had laid everyone off. He knew that they'd all be fired when they were finished with this task anyway, and they needed to be completely alone for this; no interruptions were wanted.

In the days since she'd received the first letter, Mica had also gotten a gift from Slert and Zayat. It was her brand new BOA, and she was grateful to have it with her. It gave her a sense of security in this time of uncertainty.

She carried it with her everywhere, which wasn't actually suspicious at all. Zayat had thought ahead and designed it to look like a briefcase. It opened like one as well, so she could keep up her act.

"Now, are we all ready for this, Tallest Tye Dye?" Mr. Fleek asked, wanting to get started. It was now or never, and it was only a matter of time before someone started to wonder what they were doing cooped up in there.

"Please, none of this 'Tallest' business," Tye Dye sighed for the hundredth time since she'd arrived at the building, "And yes, I think we're ready."

Mr. Fleek nodded, and flipped on the record switch.

He too had a few hidden talents to go with his beliefs, and had used them to their advantage. Using the hacking skills he'd learned before he'd become the owner of his news company, he'd reprogrammed the system to show this broadcast on every television screen on Irk. It would be shown on every channel of every television.

It was past illegal, but it was the only way to be sure that the supporters would see this. And without a doubt, it would be the least of their worries.

The 'on air' button silently flashed red, signalling their cue. They knew it was time, time to start a revolution and revive the PAKless.

"You won't have much time. The police will know it's us broadcasting right away with their tracing programs, and they'll come to get us. So you'll have to make it as quick as you can," Skippy cautioned before they went in front of the cameras.

"Yes, you're very right," Tye Dye agreed, "Mr. Fleek, after you."

Soon they were standing before the cameras, and began to speak their message to the whole of Irk.

Mr. Fleek started, "My fellow Irkens, I come before you today with a message. Some of you may not remember or may not want to remember, but there was once a group called the PAKless, who fought for our freedom. Former Tallest Tye Dye, one of the most active of this group, is here to help me."

They could almost hear all the Irkens' gasps of surprise, and smiled widely. They all thought Tye Dye was dead, though she was very much alive and in front of the camera right then.

"We have found the daughter of Katz, the leader of the PAKless. Together we are planning on reviving this spectacular group, and fight for our freedom once again," Tye Dye continued for Mr. Fleek.

From there Mr. Fleek took over, "But we cannot do it without the support of all of you, everyone who still believes in this cause. We ask that you meet us a week from now, at the statue in Irk's capital city."

"Get there any way you can, but we need you here for this. If you join us to fight for the rights that all Irkens should have but were so horribly taken away from us and maybe this will lead to a future in which we're really free. Please," Tye Dye finished.

The cameras clicked off very soon after that, ending the broadcast. They had to say that it had went smoothly, and all they could do now was hope that Mr. Fleek's hacking skills had worked; they soon got their answer.

They heard faint marching footsteps heading toward them, though the rhythmic pounding steadily grew. The Irken Special Forces were on their way, with the intent to stop them by any means possible.

That's how they knew it had worked, and had gone to every television on Irk. Not realizing the danger they were in, they hoped that their message had gotten through to the supporters and they would see a good turn out come the day they rebelled.

Skippy ran to Tye Dye, half wanting to protect her idol and half wanting to hide behind her. Mica hurriedly followed, not knowing exactly what to do.

Her legs felt like jelly, she found it hard to move at all. But she forced herself to get with the others, knowing she'd die if she froze up completely. It was all so sudden, she wasn't quite prepared. None of them were; they'd thought that they'd have at least a little more time than this.

Quicker than expected the group of heavily armed Irkens burst through the locked door, all of them pointing high-tech guns at the four of them. The situation looked grave; they had no way to escape.

That is, until Mica decided to try something random. She didn't know if it would work or not, but she was scared and would do anything to save herself.

She grabbed hold of Skippy and Tye Dye, dropping her briefcase. If this worked, she wanted to keep the two of them alive as well. Her voice cracking slightly out of fear she said loudly, "BOA, teleport!"

The briefcase sprang to life, an odd magenta light surrounding it. Everyone looked in shock at it for a moment, but that moment was all they needed. Its teleportation gun charged up, it fired at the group of three.

The magenta light engulfed them, and they could feel themselves being sucked away. They could hear gunshots, but knew they couldn't be hit. Soon the entire scene was gone and had been replaced by a nicely furnished apartment.

"It…it worked!" Mica gaped in amazement, looking around. She hadn't known that the robot had the ability to teleport, yet they were standing in Talloo's apartment.

Skippy and Tye Dye both looked around in a daze, just as confused as Mica.

Mica was the first to fully grip reality again, and realized that the other two had to go. Though the Irken military didn't know of Talloo's death, she knew that in time they'd search the place, looking for leads.

Before the others knew what was going on, the magenta light had reappeared, and they were being transported back to their underground lair. It was the only way to make sure they'd be safe.

Mica had commanded her BOA to do this, and was soon all alone again, left to contemplate the fate of her boss. Whatever it was, she knew it wouldn't be good. But she shoved those thoughts to the back of her mind to focus on other things.

She was in a sticky situation. She'd gone and helped with the broadcast, and wasn't sure if Slert would approve of it or not. The alternative, however, was enough to convince her to return to Slert's hide out.

Very soon there wasn't a soul in sight, the apartment completely silent and deserted, cleaned of any potential evidence.

************

"Mica, I saw the broadcast," Slert said slyly, as she eyed the nervous reporter. Of course she had, everyone who had a television did. And she happened to have one in her possession, to keep an eye on the outside world.

"Yes…" Mica said quietly, waiting for Slert's reaction. She winced as time went on, predicting that her reaction would only bring pain.

"Good job!" she said suddenly, clapping her hands, "Now we'll have a small army to assist us, giving us a better chance of success."

A shocked look crossed Mica's face. She didn't believe it; her actions weren't going to result in a punishment, and were instead pleasing her captor. It most definitely was not the reaction she'd been expecting.

Upon seeing her surprised expression Slert laughed, "Oh, you don't think I'd have let you go through with it if I didn't like it, did you? I knew what you were thinking all along, and could have stopped you at any time if I'd wanted to."

That statement clicked with Mica, and immediately she remembered the chip that Slert had implanted in her brain.

"I…forgot about that…" she muttered, hanging her head. She hated being a complete slave and having no real control like this.

There was a moment of awkward silence, broken only a few moments later by Zayat bursting into the room. She had a frantic look on her face, like something wasn't quite right. It was obvious that she had something important to show her.

"Mica, you'll want to see this," she said, running back into the room she'd come from. Mica followed, and ended up in a room with entertainment items, the most prominent being a medium-sized television.

She found that on the TV was a special report, taking place in the same newsroom she'd been in only hours ago. A terrible sight met her eyes as the cameraman showed several different views of the scene.

Lying slumped in the corner was Mr. Fleek. Blood stained his clothes, he'd been shot multiple times, and apparently one of them had been fatal. It was a bit of overkill, there were so many holes in him; they really weren't taking any chances.

It hurt her to see him in such a state, and she nearly cried. But she didn't dwell on it for too long; she'd known this might happen, and he'd given them a way to start the revolution.

Mica turned away, not wanting to look at the bloody scene any longer. She knew that if she did she'd break down, something she didn't want to do ever.

Zayat saw that she didn't want to see it any more, and turned off the television for her. While letting her take in what she'd just seen, she left her alone and approached Slert.

"I'm done constructing my robot, and it's fully operational as well," she said, pulling a small orb out of her pocket, "I call it a SUPER."

"SUPER, eh? And what does that stand for?" Slert asked, eyeing the orb curiously.

"Superior Undestroyable Protective Energetic Robot, named as such because it's not only designed to protect me, but also to act as a friend to me. Hence why it's programmed to be energetic at times," Zayat explained proudly, a smile crossing her face.

Slert was probably long used to it, but Zayat wasn't used to being all alone all the time. This robot, while working on everything else, had helped her stay sane this last little while.

"Very nice. Keep that on you at all times now, because you never know when it might come in handy," Slert said, though she didn't need telling. For all this time she'd already been keeping in with her always, for comfort reasons.

Now that that was settled, it was time to prepare for the revolution, the epic fight that would take place in a mere week. They had a lot to do, and not much time to do it in.

::End of Chapter 9::

Another chapter? No way! Yes way, it's staring you right in the face! How does that make you feel?

Anyway, things are starting to heat up in Slert's world. She's sent out the call, but the question is: will they get what they want?


	10. Chapter 10

Chapter 10

It was finally time; the day was upon them, they day they'd make a stand for all of Irkenkind.

"You ready?" Mica asked nervously. Although she was very nervous she was ready to give it her all, and would accept her fate without argument should it come to that. They all knew that death was definitely a possibility.

"Hell yeah! I've been waiting for this for a long time!" Slert shouted evilly. All this excitement was starting to bring out her evil side, which wasn't necessarily bad.

For this, they'd need all the brutality and force they could get. And Slert just happened to have good quantities of both of those if her evil side was in control.

Zayat piped up among all the excitement. "We should make sure they're there first, though. Just to make sure we don't completely bomb this and it was all for nothing," she said, referring to the PAKless supporters.

They all agreed, and Zayat switched on the television. Sure enough, there was currently another special report airing, this one taking place in the capital of Irk, at the statue they'd mentioned in their broadcast.

"We're here at the scene of the so-called protest, waiting for the something that's supposed to change everything. Although there is no sign of the leader, the Irkens gathered here haven't given up hope, and are steadily growing in numbers," the reporter said in a deep voice, going over to interview a few of them.

It was the news they'd been wishing for. The entire area was crowded with former PAKless, hoping to rise to the occasion and take back their rights and freedom. They could also see the occasional Irken Elite, but from their numbers it was obvious that their superiors didn't think much of anything would actually happen.

That would work to their advantage, without a doubt; it they caught the small group of law enforcement Irkens off guard, they'd have to call for reinforcements from the Massive, where the Tallest were located.

"OK, all we have to do now is pick up Skippy and Tye Dye, and we're all set," Mica said. Once they all had their respective robots and everything was in order, she gave the command.

"BOA, teleport to Tye Dye's location," she commanded, and soon they were standing in the underground lair. It was a success, and soon the ones who lived there noticed their presence.

"Ah, Slert. We've been waiting…I assume it's time?" Tye Dye greeted when she noticed them, holding up a hand to wave.

"We're ready when you are. This thing's going to happen today, and I can feel that something extraordinary is going to happen too," Zayat said cheerfully, though somehow at the same time in a solemn way.

"Well then, we'd better get going!" Skippy suggested, looking around at the others. They all looked so professional, and she was happy to be a part of the group that would bring back the PAKless.

Once they were all ready, Mica once again activated the teleportation mechanism in her BOA, only this time they headed for the protest, where it would all go down. Everything they'd been doing had lead up to this day.

One minute they were deep underground, shadows surrounding everything. The next they were out in the open, flooded in light from the suns overhead. They found themselves standing on top of the statue, staring out at the crowd.

They heard random people there shout out "Tallest Tye Dye! It was all true!" and "Oh…no way!" while still others could do nothing but let out excited gasps. They all were ecstatic to see their favorite Tallest alive and well.

They'd known that there would be a lot of Irkens there from what they'd seen on TV, but being there in real life was something totally different.

While the others stared in awe at the sheer numbers of protestors or tried to get over a sort of odd stage fright, Slert smiled widely, showing her pearly-white teeth and beaming.

This was happening because of her. Because she'd done all the right things to make this become a reality, her wish had come true. It filled her with a sense of pride she'd never yet experienced, being able to pull something like this off so proficiently.

At that moment her normal side was more or less in control, but she could feel that changing. She didn't do anything to stop it, didn't resist at all. She saw a potential death in every Irken there, and she hadn't killed for so long.

She'd nearly forgotten about the rush that came with every single kill, and yearned to feel that wonderful feeling again. She hadn't killed anything since Talloo; she'd been too busy working this day out. With a grin she happily admitted to herself that she could confidently say she now had an irresistible craving for that feeling.

Her dark self would soon emerge, and she knew it. But she didn't care; she wanted to do this. That will to kill didn't reside only in her evil side, though she did hide that fact well.

It wasn't long at all before the Irken Elites noticed they were there, but when they did they immediately sprang into action.

"Targets spotted, fire at will! There will no survivors on their side, we will protect the order of the Irken race!" the lead Elite called out fiercely into his radio, as he cocked his gun. They weren't taking any chances, even though they knew they didn't have many numbers.

Zayat noticed right away what they were planning, and was very happy that she'd come prepared. Just as they were about to fire she commanded her robot, "SUPER, group shield now!"

A light blue light soon surrounded them. The energy blasts from the Elites' guns did nothing, merely bouncing off harmlessly on contact.

While they were being defended by Mica's SUPER, Slert decided to send Streerch, an offensive type robot, into the battle. The only way to get the Tallest down there would be to kill the Irkens that were shooting at them.

"Streerch, I think we'll save the best for last," she said to make sure they didn't go overboard, "So that being said…go out there and slash a few of them up with your new claw. They'll see it coming, but you're faster than them. It won't reveal a thing."

The SIR obediently did what it was told and charged at the closest of the Elites. As Slert had said he saw it coming, and he tried to defend himself, but his actions were just too slow.

Nearly in the blink of an eye the guy was coughing up blood, skewered on Streerch's massive claw. The only thing at that point that kept him alive was the claw itself and how it was blocking the blood flow.

As soon as Streerch pulled its claw out to go on to the next victim, he slumped to the ground, nothing less than dead.

That was the fate that awaited many others, and soon there was only one Elite left. Since Slert hadn't told it to stop, the robot was killing them all.

Before this last Elite bit the dust, though, she managed to send out a call for help, hoping desperately that it wouldn't be in vain.

"Please, this is a distress call to the Massive. We need reinforcements quick, the best you've got. Dangerous…Katz's daughter…really here…killing…" she said hurriedly, though she never quite finished; Streerch had stabbed him before she could, a fatal hit.

That reaction was just the one that the group of five had been hoping for. Now the Tallest, aboard the Massive, would be coming, giving Slert's gang a change to take their revenge.

Slert had started to feel a tad uneasy, though. Just seeing Streerch massacre all those Elites had given her that heroine-esk rush, and it felt even better than she'd remembered.

That rush had fully brought out her bad side, but after all the law enforcers were dead, that craving remained. Though killing Irkens by her own hand was her style, she hadn't dared to go out there while her slave was doing its job. It was just too dangerous, and with the Massive coming, she didn't want to take that risk at the moment.

Just having Streerch doing her dirty work, however, didn't stop the urge. She looked around at the crowd of unarmed Irkens, and just totally lost it.

"Ehehehe…Streerch…" she laughed lowly, a dark tone to her voice.

The little robot looked up at its master, "Yes, my master? What is it you require?"

"Kill…kill!" Slert said, bursting into a fit of maniacal laughter. She hadn't felt this exhilarating feeling in so long, and was now completely consumed by it. She'd gone mad with power.

Normally Streerch would have disobeyed these orders, for it would be killing for no good reason. But Zayat had reprogrammed it so that the glitch that made it disobey like that was no longer present.

"Yes, I will obey," the robot said, saluting to Streerch.

Skippy looked around franticly, not believing what she was hearing. "No Slert, you can't do that! They're here to help us!" she said, giving her a scared look.

Slert didn't take notice of her, and looked on at the crowd, waiting for the slaughter to happen.

The robot turned to the crowd, aiming to fulfill its master's request. After hearing Slert's words the crowd had know what was coming couldn't be good, and had started to panic.

"My master's will…" Streerch said coldly in its robotic voice, holding up its one normal hand. As with the time the ally, a net shot out of it, trapping the people nearest the robot.

With one swift moment it took its claw and slashed right through the net. On contact with the group of Irkens, the blades continued through, slicking them in half at the waist.

As their upper bodies fell to the ground their insides spilled, making a large pile of intestines, stomach acid, and blood on the ground. Streerch then detached the net, since it had another one hidden away in its arm.

The few Irkens who had stayed behind to gape in horror as their friends and family were being murdered now somehow managed to come back to reality.

They very quickly realized that they were in trouble and ran for their lives. In moments they all would have been dead had an unexpected guest not shown up. His sudden appearance distracted Streerch, and its near victims got away.

They didn't get far, though, for the stranger shot at them as they ran past him. His aim was precise, and all the shots hit them square in their foreheads.

They fell forward past the guy, the momentum of their running guiding them forward. They were, without a doubt, dead.

Slert and the rest of them gazed at the newcomer, confused. Never before had they seen an Irken like him. Or at least, they were pretty sure he was Irken.

He stood on two mechanical lets, his own legs seemingly gone completely. The same went for his arms, torso, and most of his head. In fact, the only biological part of him that they could see was a small patch of skin at the top of his head and one antenna.

"I'd heard you were going to be here, but I never thought you'd do my work for me," he smirked, looking around at the mutilated bodies of the protestors. His voice was deep, full of hate, and he needn't move his mouth to get the sound out.

Skippy looked up at Tye Dye, confused. She asked timidly, "Tye Dye, who is this guy?"

Tye Dye looked at the guy, amazement on her face. She answered softly, as if afraid she would curse the situation, "That's…my brother."

::End of Chapter 10::

Aha! A new character is introduced! This should be fun *insert evil laugh here*

Here we see the formal introduction to Mech, one of my OCs. He also is a former Tallest - he and Tye Dye ruled at the same time much like Red and Purple.

Anyway, the broadcast is out and tehy're all ready to get crazy. And things are indeed about to get crazy. Don't you worry about that.

Just as before, everyone but Mica belongs to me... she belongs to Invader Katz.

Invader Zim (c) JV


	11. Chapter 11

Chapter 11

"Ah, so you remember me, Tye Dye. How pleased I am," the Irken applauded, his mechanical fingers clanging together every time they came into contact.

"Tye Dye, I don't get it. When you were Tallest we all knew that you had only one sibling, your twin. Tallest Mech was his name, I believe," Zayat asked curiously.

Tye Dye let herself absorb seeing her brother before doing anything. She hadn't seen him since they'd both gone into hiding, and now he was back all of a sudden. Though she hadn't expected him to die so easily, she wasn't prepared to see him like this, not now.

"I'd heard the rumours and believed he'd do stuff like that, but seeing him now with my own eyes…" she gaped, staring at her long lost brother. She just couldn't believe her eyes.

"But then, you mean…that's…" Skippy said slowly, barely able to take it in.

"Former Tallest Mech, commonly nicknamed the lord of war because he so openly expressed and promoted his love for it," Tye Dye told the others, not taking her eyes off of him.

He'd changed so much from when he was a Tallest. Back then he'd been normal, even handsome by many Irkens' standards, but now…

He'd let his love of war live on despite everyone warning him of the dangers, and there were those who supported him nonetheless. This had cost him dearly, and now there was no way he could ever turn back.

In the many battles he'd gone into as a fighter, various parts of his body had been torn off or mutilated by better warriors. He'd only survived up until this point because of the faithful members of his cult and how they'd made robotic body parts for him.

"I'd seen the newscast and thought I'd drop by. I was hoping to take down the PAKless, destroy those who still support freedom. But I get here to see you've already started for me. Tell me, whose side are you really on?" he said smugly.

They all looked as Slert, who was still in a crazed state of mind, still not completely there and under the control of her dark side.

"Oh yes, killing your allies to get to the Tallest. Nice tactic, very convincing of you real motives," he taunted. He wanted to see what would happen, see if they'd pose a challenge to him.

"At least we're trying to make the world a better place, even in one of us is a tad crazy. All you ever do is hurt and destroy for no reason whatsoever!" Zayat piped up, wanting to have her say in this. And she had a good point, too.

He laughed, "It matters not. I came here to destroy you and the worthless PAKless and will do that whether you help or not. Opposing PAKs is the first step to opposing war, and that is something that I will not stand."

It was then that they knew things were about to get serious. Mech was a legend of sorts, and his mechanical body had many hidden weapons and such, most of which were long range.

"Slert, forget about the protestors," Skippy said hurriedly, "Mech is much more dangerous. If we don't take him out, we're all done for."

Slert looked at the mechanical monster of an Irken, and saw nothing more than a challenge. Defeating former Tallest Mech would definitely be difficult, she predicted, but it was something she wanted to try. If she killed him, she'd go down in history.

"Ehehehe…former Tallest Mech, eh? I think we can handle him," she said darkly, gazing at his mechanical body. She saw many flaws in his design even now, something that was most likely because of the lack of expertise in his cult.

"Yes, that's the spirit, Slert! If you lead, we'll follow, and together we'll defeat this bastard!" Mica said confidently, awaiting her instructions.

Tye Dye looked sadly around, contemplating the situation. She'd known that there would be fighting, but she'd never wanted it to result in something as dangerous as this.

She'd been naive and she knew it, and now they were all going to fulfill Mech's wishes by engaging him in a war between them. She hadn't wanted it to result in this, but now there was no stopping it; if they wanted to live, they had to fight.

But now she was faced with her deadly brother, and the odds were against them. Despite her deep distaste for war, one was going to happen because of her. And although they had the numbers, Mech had the experience.

"Mica, full force. Zayat, have your SUPER give it its all. Tye Dye…you stay back. And Skippy, you protect her no matter what. No plan, just aim to destroy. Most definitely he won't see this coming," Slert barked. She had no idea what she was doing, and thought that using brute force alone would defeat him.

She thought that hopefully, the intelligence chips in the robots would activate, and they'd think up a bit of a plan for her to work with.

They nodded their heads in agreement, getting ready for what was to come. Skippy was slightly disappointed at her mission of protecting her idol and wanted a piece of the action, but agreed nonetheless; without a robot of her own to help her, she'd only weigh them down.

"Well what are you waiting for? Get going!" Slert shouted, hungry for the taste of victory. She was about to let Streerch go as is, when she thought of an idea, "Streerch! New opponent, former Tallest Mech. Activate attack pattern 3947."

Streerch sprang into action, saying loudly in its robotic voice, "Yes, my Master!"

Very soon, the SIR was flying through the air toward Mech, propelled by a built in jet pack. Mica's BOA was doing the same, and two rockets had emerged from the bottom of its briefcase form, making that possible. Zayat's SUPER was also flying alongside them, though it's flight pattern was more of a hover.

The briefcase looked the most awkward like that, but that didn't matter at a time like this.

The three charged at Mech at full speed, getting ready to attack. Streerch suddenly stopped in midair, nearly ready to put its attack into effect. The SUPER did the same, stopping just a little after the SIR.

The BOA, however, didn't stop. It didn't have many weapons and its AI chip was a bit slow, having been the first robot Zayat had made in a long time, and she'd been short on supplies. It just couldn't analyze the situation properly.

That cost it big time, but also opened a window of opportunity for the rest of them. A sacrifice, if you will, that had the potential to lead them to victory.

It continued on toward Mech after the others had stopped, conducting a sort of suicide mission even though it didn't realize it.

Mech easily took care of the pesky robot, grabbing it out of the air as it powered closer. It struggled to break free of his grip, to turn around and fly the other way, but sadly was unsuccessful. Mech was, without a doubt, in control of the BOA.

With a swift movement he ripped the BOA in two at the hinges, and victoriously threw each half to the ground as if he was a football player who had just scored a touchdown.

A smug look crossed the mechanical features of his face, mostly prominent in his eyes since he couldn't move his mouth. That evil look was quickly wiped off his face, though, as he realized what was happening.

Emanating from the remains of the inside of the BOA's body was a steady cloud of a gas-like substance. It was very thick, and clouded his vision. Even his super advanced mechanical eyes couldn't see anything through the mass of gas.

It went just as Slert has secretly hoped, and she chose that ideal moment to attack. She turned to Zayat and told her what to do in a whisper. She wanted this to work and wasn't going to take any chances. Although they had the same disability as the mechanical man right now, she knew a way to get past that.

Their robots seemed to already know what to do, but waited for their masters to give the orders. Once that happened, they went into action as quickly as possible, for this could be their only chance. Their window of opportunity could disappear at any time.

Once they were fully charged lasers of a devastating power shot out of Streerch's eyes, directly into the haze. Over and over they fired, so as not to miss. They hit their target, for as the cloud of gas cleared, they saw that there were a few good-sized holes in Mech's mechanical body.

"Damn you," Mech growled, glaring at the robot. His punishment wasn't yet over, though.

The SUPER also had something up its sleeve, and was about to activate it. It was an attack not meant for Irkens, but it would work perfectly on Mech.

As Mech struggled to keep his balance, it started to vibrate slightly, but other than that nothing looked much different. That soon changed, though. The invisible attack on Mech was taking its toll; there was no doubt about it.

He tried to move forward to grab at the SUPER, but was unsuccessful in doing much of anything, really. The attack had worked, and Slert's team was now in control. They'd done the unthinkable.

The attack hadn't been much of an attack at all, and instead was a device used for turning off nearby electrical devices such as video cameras and microphones and security systems.

That meant that Streerch was shut down too, but they needn't worry about that. It had a software installed in it that made it reboot when something like that happened, making the SIR as good as gold after a few minutes.

Zayat smiled widely. For both things she'd thought ahead, though she hadn't been expecting to use the tactic in a situation like this. It mattered not, though; it was her doing, she'd made this possible.

Streerch was about to strike the final blow and sink its claw into where Mech's brain was, but never got to it. Had a monstrous spaceship not landed a little ways behind the statue, he would have been dead within a few moments.

It was the Massive, complete with Almighty Tallest Red and Almighty Tallest Purple. This day just couldn't get any better; Slert had underhanded Mech and was now about to take revenge on the ones who'd brought about the destruction of the PAKless.

Everyone stared in awe at the giant ship, and Mech took that opportunity to call out his cult. They quickly took him away, still frozen by the attack, and were soon nowhere to be seen.

The door to the Massive opened, revealing the two leaders of the Irken race. One might say it was bold of them to be coming out into the open at such a time as this.

"They're finally here," Slert hissed, turning to face the goofy leaders, "Streerch, forget Mech. We have a better prey now. Attack using pattern 3929, full force!"

The others followed Slert's lead and turned around to see the two of them, smiling smugly. The look on their faces disgusted them, like they knew that the revived PAKless would fail. They were mocking them.

Streerch obeyed without fail, and immediately went to work on attacking. From inside the robot's shoulder plates emerged two things that looked like mini missile launchers.

Which was exactly what they were. Before the Tallest could react two plasma missiles were launched at them. They didn't move in the slightest, though, which confused Slert at first.

There was an explosion and the air filled with smoke. They all held their breaths, thinking that they'd really succeeded. When the smoke cleared, however, their spirits sunk quite a bit.

::End of Chapter 11::

I missed Monday's update, so I'm going to update this early. I'm starting to think that it's not going to be updated on the exact same day every week, so I'll just make sure to put out two chapters between Monday and Friday. Yeah, that sounds like a plan.

Anyway, on with the fanfiction banter!

The Tallest have arrived to put an end to this situation! Slert's in the position to complete her goal, but will she be able to do so? And at what cost? You'll just have to wait and see!

You know the drill by now. Mica (who belongs to Invader Katz) is the only OC in here I don't own. I also don't own teh show it's based on.


	12. Chapter 12

Chapter 12

"You didn't think something as puny as that would kill us, did you?" Tallest Red laughed when he saw their excited smiles fade with the smoke. He was going to have fun with this.

"Yeah, what d'you think we are? Earthlings?" Tallest Purple added mockingly.

"Well you see…" Slert hissed angrily, "You weren't supposed to have an energy shield to defend yourselves. You'd be dead right now if it wasn't for your luck."

"Dead? We're the freaking Tallest, we have an army of Irkens at our command! You think we'd not be immune to your childish attempts?" Red gloated, though mostly only to egg on Slert.

Slert's small team stood tall and attempted to stare down the Tallest. They tried their hardest to look tough but compared to the Tallest and the Massive, the five of them actually looked quite silly.

Suddenly Slert saw Red and Purple back away, engaging in a hushed conversation. It was serious, and no doubt about their next moves in this deadly game of chess. They knew that the situation could get dangerous, and wanted to do this right.

After a moment or two they turned to face the gang, an evil smile on each of their faces. They knew just what to do.

"Well, Slert and friends, do you have any last words?" Red smiled, a twinkle in his eye.

"Yeah, anything to say before we capture you and send you to your death for trying such a thing on us?" Purple said, rewording what his best friend had asked just a moment ago.

Slert thought for a moment, struggling to think up a last-minute plan. With a jump she got an idea, one that had two purposes: not only would they get away, but she's also have another shot at the Tallest. Lucky for her, they hadn't seen the battle with Mech and thus didn't know what was up their sleeves.

She quickly whispered her plan to Zayat, who immediately smiled wide. She knew that if they played their cards right, they really could win this thing. Victory could be theirs for the taking, just an arm's reach away.

"Oh yes," she said giddily, "This has a good chance of success, I'd say. I'm ready when you are, so just say the word and we're there."

Slert nodded, turning back to face their opponents. They were going to regret every coming out into the open; she was going to make them pay for what they'd done to Katz and herself.

"Red, Purple…I do have something to say. Something quite meaningful, really. Would you like to know what I have to say to you disgusting beings?" Slert asked casually, her wicked side temporarily out of the way.

"Well, duh! That's why we asked you if you wanted to say something? Seriously, why would we ask you that if we were just going to kill you?" Red laughed, as he ordered a nearby Irken to get him some donuts stat.

"What a loser!" Purple added, as he broke out laughing. His laughing soon died down, though, so Slert could get a chance to speak.

"FINE!" she spat angrily, but soon calmed down, "If you really want to know…I suppose I could tell you. But you know, I really don't think you'll like it."

She was finding stringing them on like this slightly amusing. They had no idea what she'd come up with, and this was quite to her enjoyment. She loved the surprise she was creating to take down the overconfident duo.

"Just say what you have to say already, will ya? We don't got all day…" a random Irken aboard the Massive shouted at Slert, as she passed behind the Tallest to go about her daily routine.

The lead Irken glared at the passing elite, but soon stopped and took a breath. Even she knew that she'd have to keep her cool for this; if she didn't their chances of success would decrease greatly.

With a sigh she said, "Have you ever had a dream that you just had to accomplish? Something that meant so much to you that you'd risk your life to achieve it?"

They were about to answer yes but Slert never gave them a chance. Just like every Irken out there she knew the answer would be yes for the both of them. So she just cut them off and continued as if there had never been a pause in the first place.

"Well you know what? I do. And nothing's going to stop me from trying my hardest to reach my goal!" she said fiercely, "So that being said…Zayat, take it away."

Zayat nodded and turned to the others. To them she whispered just to be safe, "Seeing as you guys have no means of offence, please stay back. You'll only get yourselves hurt otherwise."

They all nodded obediently, knowing it was for the best. They really didn't want to get themselves killed, not now. Giving her the thumbs up, they stepped back to let Zayat do her thing.

"Thanks, guys," she said, and turned to the massive. With a glint of determination in her eye she put the plan into effect, "SUPER, use method 1lol."

The small orb zoomed from its position on the Mech battlefield to in front of its owner, ready for action. As before it began to vibrate violently, its attack unseen to the Irken eye.

"HA!" Purple laughed upon seeing the homemade robot, "What're you trying to do, you going to massage us to death or something?"

"Quite the contrary!" Skippy said confidently, wanting a piece of the action. Thought she couldn't fight she could still cheer her comrades on, and she intended to do just that.

"Yeah, there's no way these two will lose to the likes of you!" Mica added harshly, hoping to boost the morale a bit.

"Yes…we'll fight you and win…" Tye Dye sighed unenthusiastically. She hadn't realized so much fighting would be involved in this, and was starting to regret ever signing up for it.

There were a few moments in which everyone fell silent, waiting for the attack. While Slert and the rest of them waited anxiously for it to work, the Tallest wore smirks on their faces; they thought they were immune to anything.

And then, with no warning other than the vibrating of Zarat's SUPER growing even more violent, the attack was in full swing and was no doubt working wonders.

The energy shield, which protected the Tallest from harm, flickered a few times, but very quickly disappeared altogether. The leaders of the Irken race were completely out in the open.

As with before Streerch powered down as well, though this time that was very inconvenient. It took a good few minutes for it to start up again, and in that time the Tallest could regain their protection.

Slert immediately realized this, as did Zayat. They were in a pickle, and would have to think up a new plan of action as soon as possible. Slert, becoming panicked, acted out.

"DAMN!" she yelled fiercely, launching herself off the statue. She was taking matters into her own hands. If nobody else stepped up the Tallest would die by her hand, and the mission would be a roaring success.

Through the air she flew, heading directly to the Tallest, her not-quite-sharp-enough-for-this claws outstretched. It was an insane thing to do, but she didn't care; she'd take down the Tallest no matter what.

At first not realizing what was going on, Zayat stared dumbfoundedly at the girl. She soon returned to reality, though, and discovered how dire the situation was. With Slert unprotected like that she wouldn't stand a chance, and she could be throwing everything they'd worked for away.

"Shit! Slert, why now?" she cussed silently, wracking her brain for a solution to the problem at hand. A mixed expression came across her face when she realized what she had to do. She had to protect their leader, even if it meant putting themselves in danger.

Quickly she looked over at the other three, her silent plea visible in her eyes. She almost didn't want to do this, but the fate of the mission hung in the balance. Luckily they saw it her way, and she knew she had to do it.

With an intense determination in her voice she called out, "SUPER, protect Slert at all costs! We can't afford to lose her, not now!"

Her trusty little robot sprang into action, flying to Slert and encasing her in a spectacular personal energy shield. Slert, though she didn't show it at the time, was very grateful for this.

"You'll pay now for what you did to Katz! You'll all see what I can really do, you stupid bastards!" She spat when she landed on the ground just outside the Massive.

"Oh yeah, that's real convincing. I'm shaking in my boots," Tallest Purple said mockingly.

Red added sarcastically, "Yeah, I'm so scared! Pfft, you don't' have the guts to take us on."

Slert said nothing to the cocky leaders for the time being, turning briefly instead to her allies. She said to them and her stolen SIR, "Thanks for that, Zayat. And Streerch, do whatever it takes to protect them while I'm busy here."

While her comrade nodded the SIR said obediently, "Yes, my Master. I will do whatever I can."

Satisfied with their responses, Slert turned back to the Tallest. She had a job to do, and she intended to do it right.

Without any hesitation whatsoever, she lurched forward at her opponents, claws again extended. Of course they saw her coming – they weren't that stupid – but they were outdone regardless.

Just as Slert was about to come into contact with them they stepped out of the way, though that didn't quite save them. Too late for them to react, she faked a right and took them by surprise by heading the same way as them.

Her darker side had again emerged and was in control, but that didn't mean that she couldn't still use logic. She was analyzing everything as she went, making sure she chose the right actions.

Those actions ultimately won her the upper hand for the time being, something that she couldn't help but be proud of. She pushed that pride away for now, though; it would only cause her to be overconfident, which would probably lead to her end.

It all happened so fast; the Tallest didn't quite know what to think. One minute they were safe behind their force field, and the next one of them was very possibly at Slert's mercy.

As blood dripped from his torso Purple looked in bewilderment at his attacker. Her fake had worked, and he couldn't believe it. She'd outsmarted them, the Tallest, and now her slightly dull claws had pierced his body.

The energy shield generated by the SUPER had given her attack a power boost, for when her arm emerged from it the thing had changed shape to keep her protected. It had formed around her hand, as a sort of glove. Had it not been for the SUPER, the attack would have never worked as effectively as it had.

The two had a bit of a stare-off before she told them something. With an angry smile she said, "I am NOT alone in this. My friends and I will defeat you, and don't you ever forget that. Soon, you'll both cease to exist."

::End of Chapter 12::

So, Slert's going crazy on the Tallest! How on earth will this end? You'll have to wait until the next chapter comes out, which should be in a few minutes, actually. So you don't have to wait long!

Mica is Invader Katz's character, everyone else is mine. Yadda yadda, you know the drill by now!

Next chapter will be a closing of this part. After that an entirely new part will spring up, with lots more awesomeness. You'll see what I mean when it starts.


	13. Chapter 13

Chapter 13

"Today you'll both die, I guarantee it," Slert said angrily, pushing her elbow farther into Tallest Purple's abdomen. Blood spurted out of his mouth at her, but she really didn't care; she was going to accomplish her mission, and a bloodstain or two wouldn't stop her.

"I'd like to… see you try," Purple wheezed, blood trickling from the corner of his mouth. Even when things weren't quite looking up for him, he couldn't allow this rouge Irken to win.

But a truly dire state he was in. Not only had Slert ploughed through his outfit, but she'd ruptured one of his lungs as well. If he were to be hit like that even once more, there was a chance he wouldn't make it.

"Heh… have it your way," Slert laughed, removing her fingers from his flesh. This increased Purples blood flow out of the wound and generally made the scene a bloody mess. Red looked on in horror, in a state of pure shock.

For a few moments Purple stood their, swaying slightly. Then, the blood loss taking effect, he crumpled to the floor, unable to keep himself upright. Not long after that, he fainted.

"Too easy," Slert said, placing her foot on his neck. She intended to kill him right then and there in front of his friend, a devastating blow to Red's ego. Taking joy in hearing his faint gasps for air, she pushed down harder with her foot.

Red, finally realizing that he had to do something if he wanted to see his best friend live, sprang into action. He did the only thing he could think of at the moment, which was call for reinforcements.

He now knew how dangerous this group of Irkens was, and knew he couldn't take them all on his own. That in itself would be a form of suicide.

He opened his mouth to call for help, though he didn't quite get to finish his plea. He managed to call out franticly, "Troops! Get over here now, I need–"

It was all he could get out before one of his subordinates poked his head around the corner. He could tell that the boy wasn't quiet sure of what he should do, but soon came out and rushed toward his leader.

"My Tallest, I'm sorry it took so long! I couldn't find him and then he had to make some fresh. I hope they're to your liking!" he squeaked, holding out a large brown bag. Red numbly took it and they boy asked, "May I leave now?"

Red nodded, knowing the boy would be of no use to him. He was too frail and obviously weak, so there was no way he'd stand a chance against this maniac.

"Thank you," he thanked, and then turned to run away, screaming at the top of his lungs. The scene truly scared him and he didn't want to get involved in the least.

Contrary to what he thought, however, the way he got out of there did exactly the opposite. His frantic girlish screams attracted the attention of the attacker, something that was quite unfortunate.

Slert looked up from her current prey to see a timid-looking boy running away, and knew she couldn't let him escape. If he did he'd only cause more trouble for her assassination.

Releasing the pressure on Purple's neck she jolted forward, reaching into her PAK as she did. It seemed the Irken she was chasing wasn't exactly in the best of shape, and she easily caught him.

"Don't you even think for a second that you're getting away," she growled, revealing the dagger she'd used when she'd first attacked Kienz and his gang. As before, it was dripping with her special poison.

He turned around to see his attacker, a fatal mistake. That motion gave Slert the opportunity to thrust the blade forward into the boy's unprotected forehead. As she released her grip on the dagger he fell forward. Just as Slert had said, he was now prematurely dead.

From the corner of her eye Slert saw Red cowering in the corner, about to attempt a getaway. Purple's ultimate demise would have to wait; she had to deal with Tallest Red before he did something to thwart her.

"Red," she said to get his attention. It worked and when he glanced over at her she continued, "I already told you I was going to get revenge for Katz, did I not? You know that that means, don't you?"

She pointed casually to Purple, who was having trouble breathing and was still bleeding heavily. Still unconscious, he was without a doubt on the brink of death.

Red gulped nervously as Slert started her advance on him. He looked into his brown paper bag hoping to find something that would save his skin. Instead he only found some freshly made donuts, the finest Irk had to offer.

He reached in and took one in his hand, intending to attempt to use it to his advantage. As the maniac steadily came to him he threw the thing at her. No hidden weapons, as was to be expected.

But he saw no other options for the time being; the energy shield of the Massive took some time to reboot, and the Irken Elites seemed to be unusually absent in this time of need. So he continued the futile action, harmlessly tossing the light brown donuts at his attacker until he couldn't stand it any longer.

The last time he'd attempted to get help all he'd gotten was a bag full of useless donuts, but this could be his last chance to save himself… or have someone else save him.

"Damn it you fools, get me some help NOW!" Red hollered fiercely, fearing for his life. To his relief, he this time got the assistance he so desperately needed.

Nearly immediately a small army of the most talented soldiers he had onboard the Massive burst onto the scene, ready to shoot and save their Tallest. They fired at will to stop Slert, but it was no good; her own energy shield prevented them from touching her.

She turned to face these new pests, the chance of getting another kill in exciting her to no end.

"You… you think you can kill me with those pathetic things? You can't be serious!" she laughed, as she sliced one of their throats open effortlessly. Once again blood splattered everywhere.

It was becoming quite the bloody place, but that bothered Slert not. The blood didn't reach her skin because of the barrier, but that wasn't the point. It instilled a sense of joy in her, and she wanted more.

But it just wasn't meant to be. Though Slert had her tactics and love of killing, the Tallest had their expert troops at their disposal. And now that they were actually doing something, her team was greatly outnumbered.

They didn't stand a chance; the odds against them were just too high. Success was no longer possible, or so the statistics said.

That, however, was something Slert couldn't wrap her mind around. Failure in her mind wasn't possible. She couldn't… no, wouldn't… accept it.

In her frustration she went berserk, killing everything in sight. Soon the floor was a giant puddle of blood and flesh and guts, but she wasn't yet finished. She still had to take care of the Tallest.

Now that she'd gotten rid of his goons she turned back to Red. It had been an easy task to get him alone again; there had only been seven of them. So now she returned to her mission, the goal she needed to accomplish.

"Now it's your turn, scum. Today you DIE!" she roared. Adrenaline was pumping through her veins, giving her that last bit of strength she needed to finish the job.

With nearly that entire last burst of energy she charged and thrust her claw at him, aiming for his heart. She intended to end this now, before any other reinforcements could come to protect him.

The blow hit her prey, though now in the way she'd predicted.

"GRAA!" Red shrieked in pain, looking in terror at his attacker. To protect his life he'd sacrificed his hands. Instead of piercing his heart, her claws had caused a small trickle of blood to run down his fingers, for she'd accidentally cut into his hands instead.

Slert laughed, not quite removing her claw, "Smart move. You know, I always thought you were the smarter of the two. But still, that won't save you."

He looked away as though pondering his last moments. It was like the classic 'look to the skies to think deeply' thing. Slert allowed this, as a small act of mercy. It was a big mistake, as it turns out.

Soon the apparently doomed lead Irken turned back to her, a deeply sad look in his eyes. Much to her surprise that look quickly turned to one of determination.

"Slert," he started, his voice suddenly sounding victorious, "You know… there's something you might want to know before you attempt to finish up here."

"And what would that be, whelp?" she asked sinisterly. She'd thought she'd amuse him by listening to such a thing before she finally took his life.

"Well I hate to break it to you, but the Irken Empire is stronger than you think. It looks like you won't be able to keep that promise you made to us," he said, pointing to the statue her team was taking refuge on.

The sight that met her eyes was one that she didn't like in the least.

Her small group of freedom fighters was completely surrounded by a much larger group of expert soldiers. Normally Streerch would have taken care of that easily enough, but it seemed they'd captured the robot as well.

The little robot had been very forcefully shut down, though not without a fight. Lifeless bodies riddled the area around the base of the statue. But now they were completely at Red's mercy.

"Kill me or my friend and they all die, along with you. Let us live, and anything can happen. Make your decision quick, or one of them dies," he threatened.

Slert didn't know what to do. She was so close, yet so far. She knew that what he said was the truth, she'd known it from the beginning.

But even if she did kill the two and get away, her team would no doubt be decimated. She'd be completely alone again, something that she desperately didn't want. She hadn't realized how lonely that life had been until they'd come along.

The sound of a gun firing reached her and she snapped her head in the direction it had come from to see who had fallen. She'd hesitated too much, and it had cost Zayat her life.

Slert hastily turned back to Red and said with an angry sigh, "Fine, we give up. But don't think that means I'll give up. I'll never give up, not with this."

"Ah, a sensible choice," Red said nearly happily, relieved that he'd managed to defeat the maniac, "And one that has earned you and each of your little friends a jail cell at Seven. Nobody's ever attempted something as daring as this; you'd have to be crazy to do such a thing."

Slert growled, but knew it was a good deal considering what she'd done.

Red continued, "I have to admit you nearly had us. And you brought us former Tallest Tye Dye. I know someone who'll be pleased to get hold of her."

::End of Chapter 13::

So, this is the last chapter of the first part. I'm just going to link them together in this whole story, as a sort of super-book like the Lord of the Rings or something, but be warned that the next part takes place after the events depicted here. It's still very coherent and definately part of Slert's past, or rather, her present. The next part is what I originally made her for.

Ande now you know that she definately did NOT win against the Tallest. Otherwise there wouldn't be much more to write about! But I've got many more chapters ready for you guys, both in this one and the sequel. I'm thinking I'll post the sequel inside this, as it's pretty much also a continuation. But you never know. Naw, I probably will.

What do the Tallest plan to do with Tye Dye? You'll have to wait to find out! How will Slert deal with going to Seven? You'll have to wait to find out! How will everyone else cope with this change of events? You know the drill: you'll have to wait to find out!

Seven belongs to Invader Sideos. I recommend that before you start reading the chapters I'll be putting out next week you go read his fanfiction, Escape, for it takes place inside of that fanfiction. It's really well-written and is where Slert makes her first-ever appearance. So yeah... I don't own Seven, I just got permission to write a fanfiction in a fanfiction. Also I don't own Mica, but you know that by now. Link to Escape: .com/art/Escape-Chpt-I-52633073

New chapters coming out next week! :D


	14. Chapter 14

Chapter 14

Six hundred thirteen years. That's how long she had been imprisoned in this madhouse. Red had certainly done a number on her by forcing her into such a place for so long, and it didn't look like she was going to be getting out any time soon.

Though she still didn't regret her actions way back on that fateful day, that hadn't stopped her suffering. Being isolated from everyone else was bad enough, but having nearly nothing to do for all these years had been most draining on her.

It had right near driven her insane; at many points in time she had found herself at that thin line between sanity and insanity. Somehow she'd managed to resist giving in and had barely kept herself in the world of the sane.

It had been a tough number of years. Scarcely had she been allowed out of her cell and the few times she'd been out, it was for a very short period of time.

Very scarcely and much to her delight she'd occasionally gotten the opportunity to see Mica and Skippy, though only in some very troublesome therapy sessions.

She had been happy to see them, two of the only companions she had ever had, but under the supervision of her therapist she was powerless to do much of anything.

"Ehg…" Slert groaned, as she looked up at the ceiling and reflected over what she'd done for the zillionth time since her imprisonment. She still didn't regret it. In fact, she was proud of what she'd done.

Though she'd failed, she'd gone farther than most other Irkens in history.

A faint noise snapped her back to reality and she looked around lazily. It was a familiar sound, one she wished would fall upon her. It was the sound of someone's cell opening.

A few moments passed and she heard another cell door open. She nearly completely ignored it, thinking a few 'lucky' Irkens had a group therapy session or something of the sort.

She soon heard another lock click open and a door swing open, and began to get suspicious. Not too often were this many of her inmates taken from their cages all at once, or at least, not on her corridor.

It was when four more of the Irkens were let out that this odd string of events really intrigued her. She got up from her seat and poked her head between the bars to look around curiously.

To her amazement, her theory had been horribly wrong. Instead of seeing the all-too-well-known therapists ushering the residents of the place into one of the many group rooms, she saw something unbelievable.

Running unsupervised down the hall were the Irkens from the opened cells. Somehow, they'd all gotten out. And every minute more and more of them were being freed.

A gasp escaped her lips and she said as a small group of escapees ran past her cell, "What the… how is that even possible…? Without a therapist letting them out, even…"

She continued to stare in longing at the free Irkens, wishing she were out there with them. Though as she watched intently, things started to turn ugly.

On this particular floor of Seven, Slert knew, the 'crazies' were kept. Seven was very organized in that way. What she didn't know, however, was that very many of those insane Irkens were also cannibals.

As she looked out with an intense need of freedom she saw all these Irkens run past, their behaviour starting to change. Many of them, after being cooped up for so long, had been in shock about suddenly being free at first. That shock was quickly wearing off, though, and they were realizing what this meant.

After so long of being isolated from the rest of the world, they were realizing that they could finally let lose and give in to the voices in their heads.

Some, very few of them, came to a stop, trying desperately to stay in control. It had to be said that in this massive prison there were definitely some Irkens who wanted to get better.

Those Irkens, the ones who paused to get hold of themselves, were for the most part the first ones to go. They were easy prey for the bloodthirsty cannibals in the area.

While those poor Irkens tried to keep control of themselves the maniacs killed them off one by one, satisfying their long awaited needs.

Slert cringed slightly, having the honour to observe one of these brutal attacks up close. Unfortunately, all those years trapped in this prison had softened her slightly, and all this blood and fighting made her slightly uncomfortable.

"Help, he wants to come out," a random Irken pleaded, as she stopped outside Slert's cell. She was trying to be in control, and so far was barely succeeding.

Looking happy about keeping her other self in check, she glanced at Slert. She was about to say something when another random Irken pounced on her.

The cannibalistic guy sunk his unusually sharp fangs into her head, taking out a good-sized chunk of flesh. The Irken screamed in pain, but her screeches died down slowly as he tore away at her flesh and eventually started feasting on her guts. Before long, she was undoubtedly dead.

It was quite the gruesome sight, but Slert forced herself to watch. If she was to get out of here, she had to get used to killing and the like. Otherwise there was no way she'd survive.

But she still didn't quite feel save; from the looks of it there were many, many cannibalistic Irkens in her corridor alone, and only one of her. Alone, she didn't have much of a chance of survival.

She had to get hold of Streerch somehow, but she didn't know where the little robot was, or even if it still worked. That's when she came up with an answer, to see how Streerch's status was.

Years ago, before any of this had ever happened, she'd taken a precaution in case of a time similar to this. Ever since then there had been a small device hidden under her own skin, for use in such emergencies.

She declared in her mind that this was definitely an emergency, and so decided if she could call for some help.

Using her claw she made a small incision in her right arm. The cut was fairly clean, and was possible for only one reason: in the six hundred thirteen years of nothing to do, she'd resorted to sharpening her claws regularly.

It was a good thing, too. Soon, after digging around under her skin for just a moment, she held a small remote-type device. On it was a single button and a light. She pushed the button and sat back down, waiting.

A sigh of relief escaped her lips as the green light flickered on a few minutes later. Streerch was still responsive, and was on its way to her. She'd always known this device would come in handy.

She made her way back to the door of her cell, watching the carnage. It was madness out there, no pun intended. Slowly she found herself getting used to the atmosphere, and even found herself lusting a little bit to kill someone herself.

More and more of the Irkens were being let out of their cages, creating even more chaos.

She waited patiently and as time went by the halls quieted down. The insane Irkens were moving on, looking for more people to kill to fulfil their urges.

Soon the corridor was nearly completely deserted, all the cells open and vacated except for Slert's. This angered her; while others were out enjoying their freedom, however false it was at the moment, she was still stuck inside.

"Streerch had better get here soon…" Slert said anxiously, as she started pacing the small box of a room. She knew that something this big had possibilities, and they really didn't want to miss out on it all.

She waited and waited for her robot servant to arrive so it could free her. Time seemed to be slowing, a second seeming like it took an eon to pass.

Her antennae tilted slightly in front of her anxiously, and she continued to pace her cell for quite a while. By now she had to be one of the very few Irkens who wasn't escaping right then, or had already felt the fresh air engulf their stale bodies.

It made her feel odd in a way; she was disappointed that she wasn't yet free, but at the same time she was determined and was happy that she'd be able to show those who were left that she could pull above the rest and get a taste of that freedom.

She suddenly stopped pacing to look out into the hall again. Seeing nothing much that was new she muttered, "Damn it, what's taking it so long…?"

She waited just a little longer, and finally saw her robot coming from a distance, zooming toward her cell. She let out a bit of a relieved sigh, going farther into her cell to sit on her cot.

As the small robot came up to Slert's cell the girl scalded, "It's about time, Streerch! I'm probably the only living thing left in this dump by now!"

"I'm sorry, my Master. My techniques are a little rusty, and there were dozens of Irkens all trying to disassemble me and eat my–" the robot started, though its master cut if off before it could go any farther.

"Excuses, excuses. What if this cage was open and I had been on the brink of death?" Slert huffed, "What would you have done then?"

"Yes… once again, I apologize," it said in its usual metallic tone of voice.

"Whatever, just get me out of this thing. We have to get going if we want to escape," she said, nearly completely ignoring her robot.

With a nod the robot analyzed the situation. When it was finished it reported, "It seems that there's been a malfunction with your cell door. Odd… but easily fixable. It should only take a moment, and then you'll be free."

"Well then get on with it!" Slert fumed, eager to get out.

"Yes, sir!" Streerch said, and immediately got started on fixing the problem. Just as it had said the problem was soon fixed and the door was wide open, allowing for Slert to finally get out of her cell after so long.

Slert calmly walked out past her faithful robot companion, a satisfied smile on her face. She was now really on her way to being free, after all these years, even if the chances of her actually getting out of Seven were slim to none.

She whipped around to face her robot, "I never thought this would happen in my lifetime. And can't deny that you helped… heck, I'd probably still be in the cage if you'd broken down over the years. Thanks."

The robot nodded but before it could say anything Slert continued.

She said, "But now isn't the time for formalities such as this. We have to hurry; this could be our only chance to escape."

::End of Chapter 14::

And now, for all you Escape fans (I hope you've read Invader-Sideos's fanfiction by now, otherwise you'll be a tad confused likely as to who everyone is and all that jazz) it's time for Slert to be in the crazy house!

All the characters here are still either mine or Invader Katz's, for now. The fanfiction that this part takes place in is (c) Invader-Sideos. Invader Zim is JV's... yadda yadda yadda.

So here we are. Find out how Slert makes her debut in Escape in the coming chapters!


	15. Chapter 15

Chapter 15

"We have to hurry if we're going to get out of here. Something this big would have come to the attention of the Massive by now, so we probably don't have all that much time," Slert said, as she looked around.

The Massive. She'd thought of every aspect of it for the past six hundred thirteen years, especially the Tallest. She'd had so long to think of ways to kill them, and a few plans had formed in her head. Not a day had gone by when she didn't plot revenge on them.

"Which way do we go, Master?" Streerch asked. This place was so huge; it couldn't comprehend which direction was the best to take unless it was under orders.

"I don't really know. I've only ever been to the therapy rooms and such. I suppose… we wander around and hope for the best. We should find a way out at some point," she suggested.

Her robot obliged and the two began walking down random halls. Every so often rouge Irkens would attack them in a crazy fit, but they easily thwarted them. Since they weren't in the right mindset, these crazies were easily dealt with.

They were on a new mission, and would stop at nothing until they obtained their goal. They both knew there would be difficult parts on this mission, but they decided to go it anyway.

After a while of wandering around the two came to a halt. Slert had noticed something and needed confirmation from her robot before they went any farther. If she didn't and it cost her a chance at freedom, she knew she'd never be able to forgive herself.

"Streerch, is it just me or did I just here footsteps?" she asked, needing to know. To her they'd sounded like creeping footsteps, and she thought someone might be about to attack them. And since they had enough common sense in them to creep around, they would be a more formidable foe than the usual crazies.

The robot did a thermal scan to see if there was someone hiding in one of the halls branching off from the one they were in, for if it were a living being they surely would show up. The heat of the dead bodies would be decreasing since so much time had gone by since they'd been killed and eaten, so it would be a bit easier to locate the person.

The results of the scan came to her abruptly, for Streerch suddenly wailed defensively, "Master, I've detected an enemy! I will protect you!"

It lurched forward at a figure that had come into view, a rage of sorts in its eyes. A century and a half of being stuck in a closet of discarded items had caused some aspects of its programming to fade away, and it once again could produce many Irken emotions and think for itself in most circumstances.

And so with its claw aimed directly at this new Irken's heart and a battle cry erupting from its electronic voice box, it charged.

This new arrival, however, wasn't like the others they'd run into so far. She seemed very calm and collected instead of being on a savage rampage, and her technique and skill was above average among the inmates.

Slert made her way closer to get a better look at the fight, and discovered that this Irken was a girl. She thought Streerch would easily win the fight, but further observation proved her wrong.

The girl was quick on her feet, kicking her legs up and knocking Streerch away before it made contact with her. She wasn't yet out of danger, though; the robot quickly recovered. It thrust its claw down at her and not a movement too soon she barrel rolled out of the way. It was a close call, but she made it.

Slert had seen enough to know what to do. This Irken was quite a find, and she didn't want this discovery to be spoiled. Already new plans were beginning to form in the depths of her mind, plans that would utilize this person's abilities.

She hollered before her robot could launch another attack, "Streerch, stand down! She's not going to eat us or anything… she's good, and we could use this Irken to our advantage in getting out of here."

Streerch stopped in its tracks, obeying the order perfectly. Once it was safe Slert stepped toward the girl, hoping to get her to work with them to escape.

Soon she was standing in front of the Irken, who was lying in guts and a large puddle of half-digested prison gruel that all the convicts were forced to eat every day. She held out a hand to help the girl up.

Not to Slert's surprise, she refused the hand and got up on her own. Slert could see that she was eyeing her suspiciously, and she decided to do the same.

She seemed relatively unarmed besides a laser gun, which she must have gotten from one of the fallen guards. Deciding that it would be a good idea to team up with her, Slert determined that she was safe enough to travel with.

When both were finished their inspection the girl said awkwardly, as she wiped a bit of liver off her asylum suit, "Missed the party, I take it?"

Slert sighed, rolling her eyes, "It appears so. Stupid door refused to pen, so I had to wait for my robot Streerch to break me out instead. You?"

After a moment of hesitation she replied, "I, uhh… I was drugged."

A bit of an awkward silence fell over the two, neither knowing what to say or do. Soon Slert, not able to handle the tense silence, spoke after a while.

"Sorry about that whole attacking you think. Streerch can be a bit… defective sometimes. And its been locked up for a long while, so some of its programming is probably wearing down," she apologized, knocking her robot on the head.

"It's OK, I guess. There was no way to tell I wasn't one of those cannibals, so… it was a good action to take, really," she admitted, looking around a bit.

Slert looked around too. It was so quiet and other than the three of them there wasn't a living soul in sight. She worried that there might not be too much time left before the Massive arrived to control the situation.

"We'd better get going. We have to go before it's too late," she said nervously, looking at the one Streerch had attacked.

"You're trying to get out too?" the girl asked, as she got busy gathering up some abandoned firearms and grenades.

Slert looked at her in a dumbfounded way and said, "Well, duh! You think I want to stay in this dump for the rest of my life? I'm getting the hell out of here!"

The girl nodded solemnly, understanding Slert's feelings completely. Getting back up she held one of the laser blasters and a handful of grenades to Slert and said, "Here, take these. It could get dangerous."

There was an unspoken deal going on, one that had no need to be said. To find another civilized Irken in here was something rare, and it was obvious that they should team up.

Slert gladly took them, stuffing everything but the gun in her PAK. She knew that in this situation virtually anything could happen. Should she be without Streerch at some point in time, she didn't want to be completely defenceless. She said gratefully, "Thanks."

"No problem, they might come in handy," the Irken said. She was getting slightly jittery out of nervousness and aid, "Other than a small gang of guards back there, things are getting pretty dead around here. I take it that's what it's like where you came from too?"

"Yeah, pretty much," Slert confirmed. The two of them looked to their right and left. They hadn't realized it, but their encounter was taking place in the middle of a four-way. They didn't know which way to go.

They both quieted down, trying to think. The quiet didn't last long, though, because Slert's new companion soon spoke up.

"Is it just me, or am I hearing a few more voices?" she asked, turning back to Slert.

When Slert listened closer she found that her suspicion was indeed correct. She said in confirmation, "It's not just you. There's civilized Irkens over there, I'm sure of it."

"Shit, shit! What do we do?" the girl squeaked, going to hide behind a mass of bodies. It was like she suddenly had a completely different personality. Slert didn't think much of it, though; she was on the 'crazies' floor, so there had to be something wrong with her.

"My Master, shall I take care of it?" Streerch asked heroically, hoping to get back in its master's good books. It was really gung-ho about the opportunity, and wanted to prove that it hadn't lost its touch.

Slert thought for a moment and said, "No, that won't be necessary. Just like how we stumbled on this fine young lady, those could be people who can help us. I say we go investigate."

The girl stood up, running back to her position beside Slert. She said with a hind of nervousness in her voice, "Well if it helps us get out of here, it should be worth it."

With that the three of them crept cautiously toward the voices. As they got closer they could hear that they were engaged in an argument. They couldn't make out exactly what they were saying, but it sounded fierce.

Soon, after what seemed like a lifetime of creeping along, they came to a corner in the hall. Glancing around said corner they could see a group of tough-looking guards trying to get into a locked room.

"Let us in there, Damn it!" one of the guards bellowed, as he tried to break the door down. It buckled slightly under his weight but didn't quite give in; it was the door to one of the therapist's personal rooms, and so was extra secure for in case of emergencies.

The voice that answered was muffled, but nonetheless sounded familiar to Slert. It said just as fiercely, "NO! There's no way in hell I'm going back to my cell willingly! I've waited too long for this!"

Slert ducked back out of view of the guards, but her companion seemed to be frozen or something. Finally she pulled back to where Slert was after a minute or too, but by then it was too late.

"You!" one of the guards shouted, seeing her move out of the corner of his eye, "We still owe you for injuring one of us! It's off to the padded room for you, let me tell you!"

"Shit!" the girl cussed, ducking for cover behind Slert. Again her behaviour had changed to a fearful timid one.

"What is it? Did they see you, or is it some other stray?" Slert asked, needing to assess the situation. If something was about to go down she wanted to be prepared.

"You know those guards I mentioned earlier? Well somehow they got over here… those Irkens over there are them. And I'm pretty sure they saw me. This is bad… I took out one of their friends earlier," she admitted.

"Shouldn't be a problem, then," Slert said confidently, stepping out into the open. From her PAK she pulled one of the grenades. Before the guards could do anything she pulled the pin and tossed it in front of them, jumping out of the way in the process.

The resulting explosion that came seconds later was indeed something spectacular, lighting the hall for as far as the eye could see. Soon the show of flames and such died down, and the three ventured forth to survey the damage.

Every one of the five guards lay dead on the floor, their blood splattered all over the walls. She'd taken care of the problem and what's more, the door they'd been trying to get into had been blown wide open, allowing Slert to see who was hiding in there.

::End of Chapter 15::

Who is this mysterious girl? What are her origins? How will her actions effect Slert's chance of escape? Find out next time, on The Art of Revenge!

Mica and stuff (c) Invader Katz


	16. Chapter 16

Chapter 16

A soft whimper could be heard from the inside, and Slert decided to investigate. Before venturing forth she turned to the girl and said, "I'm going to see what's in there. You should stay out here and keep a lookout, just in case."

She nodded; she was going to be staying right there while Slert did her business in the newly blown open room. She didn't exactly want to stay outside to stay watch, but it had to be done by someone.

Satisfied, Slert wandered confidently into the room. Streerch followed close behind, her personal bodyguard. At first the room seemed empty, appearing to be a normal living/workplace area. Upon closer inspection, though, she discovered two Irkens hiding there.

Deep in the first room, she saw an exotic plant. It was a normal exotic plant beside the fact that it was shaking uncontrollably. Knowing that it was out of the ordinary for plants to do that, she took hold of it and threw it aside.

Soil was scattered across the lush fuzz carpet, completely ruining it. But Slert didn't pay attention to such trivial things as that; by getting rid of the plant she'd revealed one of the two hiding Irkens.

For a moment or two she just stared blankly at the Irken, her mouth hanging open. She hadn't expected this to happen at all.

First the Irken hid herself in her arms, but as she realized that Slert wasn't there to harm her she looked up. Her eyes grew wide upon seeing the one who'd saved her, for she too was surprised by this turn of events.

"S…Slert? Is that really you?" she asked, shakily getting up, "I'd thought you'd have left by now. Why'd you come back for us? You could be far off by now probably…"

Slert went numb slightly. For so long she hadn't seen her old companion, and it was a bit of a shock to see her alive and fairly well in this mess. It took her a moment to answer.

When she got over the shock she said, "Yeah, it's me all right. My door malfunctioned and I just got out recently. But, Mica, I think the real question is what are YOU doing here… and I thought I heard someone else in here. And where are we in this mad house, anyway?"

Mica laughed nervously, going over everything that had happened in her head. It had been quite a doozy, that was for sure. Then she remembered something suddenly, and knew she had to deal with that before going any farther.

She turned away from Slert and called out to the other hiding in the room, "Skippy, it's OK to come out now. The guards are gone… and guess what! Slert's here too now; she's the one that saved us!"

"Skippy's here too?" Slert gaped, unable to believe her pure luck.

"Yeah, I know… what're the chances, eh? We're not sure how we managed to meet up either, to be honest. But the main thing is that we're all together and safe, right?" she said happily, as Skippy emerged from behind a nearby couch.

"Hey, Slert," Skippy said, as she waved hello nervously.

"Hi," she replied kindly, but then got down to business, "You actually didn't answer my questions. What're you two doing here? And heck, where IS here, even?"

"Well… I suppose why we're here is pretty simple. We happened to meet up and then we ran into that group of guards you took care of. They chased us here and we managed to get in here and lock the door," Mica explained.

Skippy added quickly, "And we're in our therapist's apartment. I didn't notice it at first, but his stuff is all over in here. Once I realized that I began to search for that outfit Tye Dye made for me."

The dumbfounded look on Slert's face told them to elaborate a little, and they did so gladly.

"When patients are admitted here and assigned a therapist, all their possessions are confiscated. The assigned therapist takes care of all their things for when they get better and are allowed out… if they ever get out," they explained together.

"Ah, I see…" Slert said with a nod, "Then I'll assist you with that. My usual dress may not be anything spectacular, but I have to say I am fond of it. Either way, it's much better than this suit."

"Sweet, thanks! We should split up to make the task a bit faster; we still have to get out of here," Mica said, and they soon after were organized and splitting up.

Mica headed to the bedroom and storage area while Skippy decided to search the living room and kitchen. Slert was left with the study and a random spare room.

The apartment went relatively quiet while everyone went about their search. It made her think… compared to the living areas of the convicts, the therapists lived in pure luxury. It was hardly fair, but now wasn't the time to dwell on such things.

She had a task to do, and she intended to do it quick so they could get out of there.

She made her way to the huge desk and shuffled through the contents of its surface. Finding nothing she moved onto the drawers, still coming out empty handed. Getting slightly annoyed she continued to search, now in the massive bookcase of patient archives.

She found no outfits, as was to be expected in a study, but she did find something intriguing.

In her eyes as a prisoner of Seven, she'd heard all sorts of things from her cell. Murders, rituals, cults, she'd heard it all. But one thing had caught her attention in particular over the years.

A few cells down from her there had been a girl. She'd talked to herself about the weirdest things. Overhearing her rants Slert had learned that someone in the hall spoke of demon Irkens and Irkens with strange powers.

She, like everyone else, had for the most part disregarded her rambling, labelling her as crazy.

Late at night Slert occasionally would hear conversations between her and her therapist. Apparently every few days he would collect something from her, even though this was strictly against Seven procedures.

"OK, Ziera, do you have the papers?" he would whisper to her as he stopped outside of her cell. There would be a rustling and soon he'd be going back to his room, the transfer complete. It was always quick, and barely anyone ever noticed because it was done so late at night.

Well Slert somehow remembered the girl's name from conversations with the prisoners around her and from her brief discussions with the therapist, and that helped her to find this very interesting items.

Among the many digitalized files, one group of things in particular caught her eye. It was a small series of discs labelled 'Ziera's Diary'. She thought of all the bizarre things that had come from the girl's mouth, and thought that some things would be explained in them. And as a plus, they'd probably be a small source of entertainment.

Snatching them from their home on the shelf she quickly shoved them into her PAK. She didn't have time to watch them all right at the moment, since they had to focus on escaping for the most part, but she'd definitely dig into them later on.

Concluding that other than the files there was nothing of importance to her in there, she exited the study to find Skippy skipping excitedly around the room, her favourite outfit held in her hands.

When she saw Slert enter the room Mica announced happily, "I found yours too, Slert. Mine wasn't there, though, but that's perfectly OK. I don't particularly need it."

"Thanks!" Slert replied excitedly, happy to get her old clothes back.

Mica handed it to her and she gladly took the outfit, stuffing it into her PAK with everything else. Now wasn't the time to leisurely get changed; now that they had their belongings, it was time to get going.

Knowing they probably didn't having much time left to successfully escape, Slert took charge. She sad to the other two, "It's time to get going. If we ever want to get out of here, we have to act fast. Skippy, put that away so we can get going."

Skippy did what she was told, immediately realizing that Slert was very serious. Soon they were all ready to get the heck out of there. They were just about to head out when the mysterious girl poked her head in the door.

"You done in there yet? The coast is clear but you were taking so long, so I thought I'd make sure you were still OK," she said, barely noticing Skippy and Mica.

Mica was the first to react. The girl looked so very familiar, but for some reason she couldn't quite put her finger on where she knew her from. With a confused look on her face she asked, "Who's that, what's going on here?"

Slert laughed, "She's a girl I picked up on our way here. Come to think of it, we don't even know each other's names yet… time for some introductions, eh?"

She beckoned for the girl to come into the room with them, and she meekly did so. Soon they were all standing in a huddle-type stance, the hurried introductions beginning.

"Well first off, I'm Slert. I was admitted into this hellhole because I very nearly killed the Tallest out of a… revenge of sorts," Slert started, and then looked to Mica.

From there the ex-reporter continued, "I'm called Mica, and I assisted Slert in the attempted assassination of the Tallest."

When Mica was done Skippy said, "My name's Skippy, and I was former Tallest Tye Dye's assistant before I helped Slert try to kill the current Tallest."

The girl gaped, "Did you three really do that? It's kind of unbelievable but if you really did do it… that's quite a feat! I'm surprised there aren't rumours going around about you three."

"Oh, we did it, all right. Why else would we be here now?" Slert laughed, "So… what's your name? What got you in here?"

She mumbled, "Well… uhm…"

"Come on, you can tell us. We've all been labelled insane, so it's all good," the three urged, eager to hear her story.

"I… um… I don't think this is the proper time for this. We really need to get out of here. Maybe when we're out we could continue with this?" the girl suggested, smartly evading a situation she didn't want to be stuck in.

"Right," Slert said, realizing the girl was probably right, "Let's finish this later; it's time to get the hell out of here!"

As they marched out of the room the as-of-yet unnamed girl breathed a sigh of relief. For the time being, at least, her identity was safe.

"Damn… this place is a freaking labyrinth! Which way do we go?" Slert said out loud, mostly talking to herself.

"I don't know…" Skippy murmured, "This place is just so huge. We may think we'll get out of here fine, but in reality it could possibly take us years to just find the exit…"

Mica glared evilly at her friend and said angrily, "yeah, thanks for believing in us and giving us a boost of confidence and all that! Geeze…"

Skippy rubbed the back of her neck nervously and said apologetically, "Uhm… Sorry about that. We'll make it out for sure, I know it."

"Whatever," Mica said uncaringly. Already it was obvious that all those years in a prison cell had taken its toll on both of them, just as it had with Slert. Most likely, the tense atmosphere and stress were going to be doing their damage on their getaway attempt.

::End of Chapter 15::

The cast and crew returns! But will they be staying together for long? Only time will tell!

Everyone still belongs to their respectful owners. I'm just going to say that for hte rest of this because if you've read Escape by now, you should know that quite a lot of characters will be introduced soon.


	17. Chapter 17

Chapter 17

"Guys, let's not fight, please," the nameless girl pleaded, "We have to focus on finding a way out of here, not bickering with each other!"

Slert nodded in the two's direction, "She's right, you know. If we don't all work together on this, there's no way we'll ever get out. So just stop it so we can go."

"Fine… but that doesn't mean I won't like it," Mica pouted, crossing her arms. So long in a place as evil as Seven had really changed her, and it didn't look like it had changed her for the better.

"Look, I was just saying the proven truth. No matter how depressing it is, I don't see anything wrong with it. It's just a fact, is all," Skippy defended. Life in prison had changed her too, though not as drastically.

"Shut up," Slert demanded harshly, waving her hands in the air slightly, "We don't have time for this crap!"

Skippy stared oddly at Slert, unsure of what to think. She'd noticed something random and had no idea what had happened. Wanting to know she asked, "Slert, what happened to your hands?"

Slert said casually, "We all did random things in here and danced on the edge of insanity. Cutting off my thumbs when they weren't watching was my way of doing that. But now's not the time for this… I thought I just heard something."

They grudgingly fell silent, if only because they respected Slert. Indeed, just as Slert had noticed, a very faint sound could be heard. It was coming from the direction Slert and the girl had come from.

As they listened it grew louder, the thing that was making it coming closer. Soon it was close enough so that they couldn't quite see the being, but could clearly make out the noises it was causing.

It was a mix of footsteps, heavy breathing, grunting, and a strange squishing ripping noise. They didn't quite realize what it was, but they got the notion that they shouldn't mess with whatever it was.

They very quickly after that point got to see for themselves just how dangerous this thing was, for it came powering around the corner to face them.

Just like every other Irken in Seven it was an Irken, though it was one unlike what everyone had previously set eyes on.

He was an Irken of near-unimaginable size, his muscles bulging. He was topless, his shirt having been ripped off in an earlier fight. But that wasn't the most fearful thing about him, not a chance.

The look in his eyes was one of pure fury, showing little or no regard to the health of others. The squishy ripping sound, they found, was made by his snack.

"You… look tasty," he said in an amazingly calm, deep voice, as he bit off a large chunk of some dead Irken's head. As the skin ripped apart and the skull cracked and broke, the guy's teeth sinking into the brain made a sickening squishy noise.

He ate the thing whole, bones and all. The only way Slert could think of to describe him was as a hardcore insane cannibal.

"N-n-n-n-n-n-no, we're really not. We're not tasty, we don't taste good at all," Skippy said nervously, hoping he would move on without incident.

"No, you really do. I can tell; I have a nose for these things," the massive Irken grunted, as he threw the half eaten body away. His mouth began to drool and he took a step toward the group of four.

They all started backing up, not liking the look in his eyes of the tone of his voice. There was no doubt about it; he was serious. And to prove their theory correct, a few minutes later he full out charged at them.

"RUN!" Slert yelled at the top of her lungs, though for obvious reasons the others really didn't need telling. They all literally ran for their lives, for if this bloodthirsty Irken got his hands on them, they were toast.

Before long it turned into something like those British chase scenes, as they ran through hallway after hallway. The only difference was Mr. I-want-to-eat-you stayed right on their tail, and they didn't get away.

It seemed like they were running in circles through the asylum. Every hall looked nearly the same. It was a good tactic for an epic event such as a breakout like this, though; with the 'going in circles' feeling, one tends to lose hope.

But they didn't give up. They wanted to live to finally see the light of the suns again, and would do anything in their power to make that a reality.

They ran and ran and ran. This hulk of an Irken was faster than he looked, giving them a run for their money. For a while they managed to stay out of his reach for the most part, but over time that changed.

Not for a long time had they had to run like this, or exercise at all for that matter. Since they'd been labelled as 'insane' they were never allowed out of their cages except for therapy.

After not too long their lack of fitness became very clearly visible. The longer they ran the slower they got. Their breathing changed from normal to short and shallow as their tried to get enough oxygen to fuel their muscles.

The situation had turned to one of survival of the fittest, a deadly game of cat and mouse, if you will. And there was a good chance at least one of them would lose.

As they sprinted through the endless maze of halls their movements began to slow. The others managed to keep going, fuelled by pure will and adrenaline, but Mica wasn't doing so well.

They didn't know whether it was the fact she'd barely exorcized at all over the years or the amount of adrenaline flowing through her veins, or even how strong her will to live was at this point, but she was steadily falling behind the rest of the pack.

"Guys…" she huffed, struggling to catch up to the others. She really was trying her hardest to stay alive, but she just couldn't stay ahead with them. She looked over her shoulder to see if she was putting any ground between the maniac and herself, and got quite a surprise.

Instead of being slightly safe she found that he was right on her tail. She hadn't realized it before as much, but he was so close she could feel his breath on her neck as they ran.

Though looking back to see where she stood had actually had good intentions, it cost her dearly. In the few seconds she was looking behind her, her speed slowed. Not too much, but enough to spell out her doom.

Finally the cannibal was close enough to get her, and he did just that. With one powerful swipe of his claw he slashed her back. She lurched forward, going down hard.

"Help! Please, help me!" she shrieked, though she knew her companions wouldn't go on this suicide mission to save her. It was always worth a try, but they all know that the others had to get away at any cost.

And she bought them some well-needed time by going down, however short it was. It was at the cost of her own life, but the others would get to live a little longer.

The maniac cannibal loomed over her, stopping in his tracks. His eyes glinted with a devilish happiness; he was finally going to get to eat something delicious.

He took a few more swipes at her, and soon she was soaking in a pool of her own blood. He'd done it quickly as to not waste any time; still he wanted the others to eat as well. Bending over he said to her dead corpse, "I'll come back for you later, my tasty treat."

With that he sprinted forward, wanting to catch up to the others.

"Damn it, Mica's gone," Slert huffed, not slowing down in the least. They'd all heard her cries of desperation, and when they'd suddenly stopped they knew what had happened to her.

"Oh god, what do we do? We have to do SOMETHING, right? We have to do something!" the yet-nameless girl told the others nervously. She knew who the doomed girl was and didn't want to let her die so easily.

"No, keep going!" Slert hissed, "If we stop now we'll meet the same fate. I can already hear him catching up to us."

"But…" she started, though she knew Slert was right. She quieted down and continued to run.

Skippy suddenly spoke up, voicing a strategy to shake off their pursuer, "Guys, let's turn left here. Maybe if we can take enough turns we'll lose him. Either way it's worth a try, I think."

They all nodded in agreement an when the corner came up they all turned sharply. Without a second thought they continued running. That is, until they received a very nasty surprise.

After trying a few more times to try to get away they found themselves in a sticky situation. Without knowing it, Skippy had led them to a dead end, and now they were utterly cornered.

"Shit!" Slert cussed, nearly ready to give up hope, as were the others. There was no way they could fight him off, and certainly no way they could get past his hulking body to continue running.

Before too long the one who wanted to devour them turned around the corner, and once again they came face to face.

"Finally I've caught up to you, and soon… you'll GET IN MAH BELLAH!" he said, as drool dripped from his lip. He lunged at them, wanting nothing more than to taste their savoury flesh.

The group cowered in defeat and fear, waiting for the inevitable impact. But much to their surprise they never heard their bones snap and flesh rip; they never felt death envelope them.

They waited a few moments, but still nothing. It was starting to puzzle them; why when it was so obvious that they were finished, was this Irken not clobbering them?

Skippy nervously opened her eyes to see what was going on, and in the process got quite the shock. She screamed out in surprise, backing farther against the wall.

The one who'd been chasing them never made it to his prey, instead only making it halfway. It looked like someone had pressed the pause button on his actions, for he seemed to be stuck in mid-leap.

Soon he coughed up a fair bit of blood, though, and fell forward. He nearly crushed Slert and Skippy, just narrowly missing them. They scrambled out of the way, and only when they were sure he was dead did they notice something.

Standing directly behind where he'd just been was a small, scrawny-looking Irken. His hands were stained with blood, most likely the cannibal's. A unique dagger stuck out of his victim's head, which he quickly bent down to retrieve.

Soon he was standing up again, now looking at the group of three. He smiled and said, "Howdy-do! Y'all looked like ya were in a spot o' trouble, so I thought I'd give you a hand."

Slert looked at him and then the corpse of their pursuer and then back to him, trying to figure out how such a small Irken had killed such a massive beast of an Irken. He caught on to this and explained casually.

"This ol' blade," he said, holding up his dagger for them to see, "Was given to me personally by tha Master. It's infused with tha Almighty Overlord's soul, see, one of pure evil an' hatred. It paralyses the victim upon contact, an' quickly kills them. It takes only one hit."

The gang stared in wonder at him, finding it hard to believe his story. Their attacker had gone down just like that, but for it to be done by a magical knife?

::End of Chapter 17::

Yay, a psycho maniac bent on eating them! This is where things will get interesting and will serve as a segway... if you've read escape you'll know what this is leading up to.

The random irken with the magical knife is planning something... but what?

All characters (c) thier respective owners


	18. Chapter 18

Chapter 18

Before the others could say anything this mysterious killer continued. He took no notice of their sceptical attitudes, completely absorbed in the thought of the one he served.

"My Master sent me out on a mission ta capture Irkens fer his ritual. He's goin' ta summon tha Almighty Overlord so he can show us tha way out. You two fit his description perfectly, so I've decided ta take you up ta him," he said, pointing at Slert and the unnamed lady.

"You… you can't be serious! Can you?" Skippy gaped, attempting to stand up for her friends.

"Oh yes, very serious. They're goin' ta have ta come with me. It was tha Master's wishes ta get specimens such as them," the Irken said threateningly, taking a step forward.

"To hell with that!" Slert exploded. She wasn't going to stand for this, "There's no way you're taking us for your little project. I don't know much about rituals, but I know they don't end well for the sacrifices!"

"Sorry, but that's not an option. If ya don't come willingly I'll have ta stab ya with my dagger. It may be troublesome fer me, but I can always find others ta perform the task," he sighed.

"No dagger can do that," said the unnamed Irken, "It's impossible."

"Oh… impossible, eh? Keex, come over here," he said calmly. He was going to prove a point, and use one of his underlings to do it.

A strong-looking Irken walked around the corner, obeying the other's order. He knew what was about to happen and said sadly, "Keex. One hundred fifty earth pounds, five feet two inches. Perfectly healthy in nearly every sense, minor Schizophrenia."

"Ah, Keex. Thank ya kindly, ol' friend. You've been a loyal servant, an' I'm sure tha Almighty Overlord will reward ya fer that," the other said, thrusting the dagger into his companion's gut.

The effects were obvious within the first minute or so, his body shaking horribly. He attempted to move to demonstrate, but wasn't physically able to. Soon, like the last guy who'd been stabbed before him, he fell to the floor with a thump.

After that he was motionless, and it was obvious that he was dead.

"If that's not enough proof, I dunno what is. Now, will ya come without puttin' up a fight, or do things have ta get ugly?" he threatened, again retrieving his blade.

They thought for a moment. Either way they were screwed, no matter what they did. They could either get killed right here and now when they refused, or they could die in front of a crowd for some random ritual.

Slert said grudgingly, "Fine, I'll come. At least as a sacrifice I'll be able to be killed bringing about something you might call spectacular. Going out with a bang, shall we say…"

She stepped forward to join him, looking sadly back at the others. She didn't particularly want to go on with this, but if it would let her live a little longer she would go along with his little plan.

Before completely submitting herself, however, she decided to send her robot away. The chances of her escaping were slim to none, but if that chance came alone she'd need some help. She told the metallic being sadly, "Streerch, get out of here. I'll call you if I need you in the future, but for now you have to find a way out of here."

Streerch nodded, knowing there was nothing it could do. If it attacked the goons would either destroy it or kill Slert, neither of which it wanted. Without another word it ran off, and its master's captors had no problem with it.

"I… I'll come too. If I die here I want it to be honourable, at least a little, not by your stupid dagger," the mystery girl said, following Slert.

Now that the two were standing beside their captor sadly he smiled. His Master was going to be very proud of him, he knew it.

"Great. Now, you over there. We don't need ya, but don't worry… ya won't be killed here. I'll leave ya be, but I really do recommend you come to see tha summoning," he invited pleasantly, his hostility completely gone now that he had what he'd come for.

"I don't exactly know what it is you're summoning, but I want no part in it," Skippy said harshly, though her eyes said she didn't want to leave her friends behind.

"Suit yerself," he shrugged, and then turned to his two finds, "Now I'm sorry, but I'm going ta have ta do this. I don't want ya ta have a chance ta rebel on tha way there."

With that he knocked the two of them over the head, causing them to fall unconscious to the ground. He called over a few followers to carry them to their destination and just like that, they were on their way.

Skippy couldn't bring herself to leave her friends behind just like that, and slowly got up. She'd follow them all at a distance, and hopefully she'd figure out a way to rescue them.

The circumstances did have at least one advantage, though. Looking at the bright side of the situation she realized that she was following Irkens who knew their way around the place, and could possibly lead everyone out.

************

Slert slowly opened her eyes, waking from her forced sleep. Last thing she remembered she was being taken hostage by that madman, and after that… darkness.

Now as she looked around she found that she was in a very large room. It was packed with Irkens, all of who seemed to be waiting anxiously for something to happen. She scanned the crowd and found Skippy, miserably standing in one of the less populated corners.

She tried to call out for help, but found that she wasn't able to. She knew her mouth was moving, she could feel it moving, but no sound came out. It was then that she realized that they'd attached some sort of no-talk tape to her mouth to keep her from being a disturbance.

The present circumstances annoying her, she moved to remove the tape from her face. Just as she couldn't talk, however, she couldn't move her hands. They were tied up in the perfect knot behind her, as was to be expected when someone was taken hostage.

Completely helpless she looked over to her side, where the nameless girl stood tied to a pole. She too was bound by her hands and had tape over her mouth.

She looked at her with a sad look in her eyes, and the girl returned the gesture. They both knew that these could be their last moments and despite being unable to talk, had a silent possibly last conversation.

The one who'd captured them approached Slert when they weren't quite done saying goodbye to each other. That in itself enraged Slert, but for it to be the one Irken who'd captured her besides the Tallest…

"My, my. Looks like ya can't break free," he said in an overly happy tone of voice, "But don't worry, it's fer tha best."

Slert glared angrily at him, though it really wasn't effective. She found that she wasn't very menacing when she was tied up as a hostage and at his mercy.

"Ya know, though, yer deaths won't be in vain. You'll have tha honours of bringin' forth tha Almighty Overlord. And not only that, but ya'll get ta see his entrance because he won't eat yer souls until he's completely here," he continued.

Slert couldn't take it any more. This guy just annoyed the hell out of her, and all she wanted to do right then was cause him pain.

With a silent laugh she swung up her legs, the only part of her body that wasn't tied down. With a satisfying crunch her foot made contact with his groin. He fell to the ground, clutching his crotch and squeaking in pain.

Though the PAKs made those particular body parts obsolete, that didn't mean it wasn't painful when they were crushed via a powerful kick.

Slert looked down at him, her joy at hurting him very visible in her eyes. She would have pointed and laughed cruelly at him, but at the moment that was harder than it sounded since she was tied up.

For a few minutes he quivered on the ground, the pain consuming him. Soon enough, though, he managed to calm down and push the pain to the back of his mind. Shakily he got up to face Slert.

"Obviously ya don't appreciate tha raw power of tha Almighty Overlord. A big mistake," he huffed madly, "It's a good thing ya'll be dead when he arrives, or he'd really make ya suffer."

Slert rolled her eyes as if she didn't care, and her abductor shuffled away slowly. He had to go find some pain relief; for the ritual he wanted to be in perfect condition so he could show his best.

Slert looked around nervously. Though she was trying to act cool about all of this and not get worried, she seriously doubted her chances of survival. She believed it would work, and was totally scared for her life.

Wanting to finish saying her goodbye to the unnamed girl she turned back to her. The girl looked like she was near the point of crying, obviously not wanting to die in a situation such as this.

She wanted to comfort her, to tell her to be strong in this dire time, but knew she couldn't. There was no way to get her attention.

Not wanting to give up on her she tried desperately to think up some way to get them out of there. There was no way to get her attention.

Not wanting to give up on her she tried desperately to think up some way to get them out of here. Before she could do much brainstorming, however, a very important looking Irken stepped up onto the platform they were tied up on.

In an official voice he announced, "My fellow Irkens, the rumours are true! This massive escape can only be a sign from Him, and we intend to fulfil his wishes here today!"

Much of the crowd cheered in excitement, faithful followers of this so-called 'Almighty Overlord'. They, at the moment, wanted nothing more than to see their god come before them. They were convinced that he would lead them all to the freedom they deserved for worshipping him.

As for the rest of the Irkens there, the non-believers, for the most part made their way to the back of the room. They were only there because they'd heard that there would be a way out of this hellhole if they came.

Once the crowd's behaviour settled down a bit the focus of attention was directed back to the one who appeared to be leader.

"Now, after so many years of secret planning, the dream of meeting our god will be realized. We will finally summon him to our world so he can reign like he rightfully should!" he preached, glorifying his belief.

"Master," the one who had captured Slert said, "Tha sacrifices are ready fer tha ritual, so we may begin at any time."

"Excellent. Then let it begin!" he shouted.

He was about to do just that and start the summoning ritual when he was interrupted by something quite random.

The doors to the east of the room burst open with a clatter, revealing a fair-sized group of Irkens. The one leading the pack looked around, analyzing the situation quickly. He was up to something big, Slert could tell.

An oddly delighted look twinkled in the Irken's purple eyes, and the smile of an evil mastermind crossed his face. He told something to the others but they were too far away and Slert couldn't hear their words.

Soon enough, though, it was evident what'd he'd said to them through their actions. When the man turned around to face the crowd again, all hell broke lose and blood was shed.

::End of Chapter 18::

Enter Sideos and the gang!

So, this is where the two stories really converge. Forget it taking place in Seven, now we have all the awesomeness that is everyone's characters!

From here on out I've tried to keep it as close to Escape as possible (down to having the chapters printed out so I can get the speech and actions exact) while still keeping it relatively separate and its own thing. It's quite hard... we'll see how it turns out.

My main concern is it not being good enough and unknowingly making a mockery or something of Escape... I hope more than anything that that doesn't happen.

All characters (c) thier respective owners  
IZ (c) JV


	19. Chapter 19

Chapter 19

The large group of Irkens seemed to be discussing what they were to do next, for they stood in the doorway for quite a while. It seemed that nobody but the hostages had even noticed the doors open so dramatically, for the crowd had started the ritual, chanting in some obscure language.

It was only now that the chanting had begun that Slert took real notice of her surroundings. She'd been too obsessed with her hate for the one who'd taken her hostage that she'd managed to block nearly everything else out.

All over the walls of the room were inscriptions, written in an unidentifiable language, probably the same one as the chanting. At first she didn't realize it, but they were written with the blood of many an Irken who had previously been standing in the crowd.

She did a quick scan of the room while the newcomers were busy chatting away, taking in everything. Before she hadn't noticed it, but now she saw that something was out of place with the one who was leading the ritual.

Like the floor all around them and the makeshift stage, he was covered with blood. That in itself wouldn't be something out of the ordinary, what with this being a maximum-security asylum in the middle of a mass breakout and all. There was something else about him, something that could unnerve some of the most desensitized Irkens.

He had no clothes on, none whatsoever to cover his dark green skin. Instead he wore what looked to be the skins of other Irkens, somewhat like how a hunter wore the furs of the animals he's defeated. Etched into these other Irkens' skins, as well as his own, were more inscriptions, again spilling yet more blood.

Suddenly her attention was snapped away from the leader, and she was again focused on the purple-eyed Irken. He'd randomly charged forward into the crowd, an oddly joyous look on his face. The others followed blindly, trusting their leader.

The one leading the ritual immediately stopped his chanting, as did those in the crowd who were following him. Slert heard movement to the right of her and noticed for the first time two more Irkens tied up on the stage; the one immediately to her right was grinning madly at the sight of the purple-eyed one.

It seemed that there was some sort of tension between one of the gang and his leader, but of that Slert couldn't be sure. The look in his eyes was torn between gratefulness and rage, for she got the feeling that these other two sacrifices were in some sort of relationship.

The possibilities made Slert's head spin, and she decided to think of something else for the time being.

Leaving his followers in the crowd the leader of this new group strode onto the stage, a thoughtful look in his eyes. This was his time; he was the one in control now. Up to the ritual leader he stepped, getting ready to speak. In the dead silence of the room, Slert could hear his words perfectly.

Clapping his hands together and winking he said to the skin covered Irken in a mock-regretful tone, "Hey, nice little party you've got going on here. But, unfortunately, I'm going to have to break it up. You see–" he raised his antennae a bit to add to his look of importance "–you're in my way, and you have two of my tribe on the floor there."

Shaking his head and snapping out of his daydream the blood covered Irken asked in a confused way, "Excuse me?"

"I'll just be taking them," he said darkly, moving to step past the ritual leader. He didn't quite make it because the bigger Irken blocked his path, though.

The ritual leader, wanting to protect what he was trying to do, said menacingly, "No you won't, they are to be used to summon the Dark Lord!"

"Dark Lord, huh?" the younger Irken said with a laugh, "Don't you know? He's already here!"

A vicious look entered his eyes as he grinned madly. As he hurriedly looked around the cult leader asked, "Where?"

In one swift movement the newcomer slashed at his face with such force that his victim spun around in midair. He said triumphantly as he committed this random act of violence, "Here!"

For a short moment all was quiet, but that didn't last long at all. Soon all hell broke loose; followers of the cult bellowed in rage at seeing their fallen leader, tuning on the intruders violently.

The intruders, who looked like they'd seen their fair bit of fighting lately, formed into a tight circle. It would be the most efficient way to fend off the hundreds of delusional Irkens.

Slert looked at their leader, who was calmly approaching the sacrifices. He was abandoning his own, letting them do the dirty work, while he went ahead and retrieved the two he knew. While she hated that he'd do that, she couldn't help but feel grateful because he freed her and her friend as well.

As her straight jacket was cut apart by the Irken's razor sharp claws she fell forward onto the floor. She couldn't believe it; luck was on her side, and again she was free… or as free as she could be when still trapped in a prison for the insane.

As she and her companion got up and brushed themselves off she heard one of the other hostages mutter hotly, as though she regretted even thinking about it, "Thanks…"

Slert looked up at her rescuer, a look of gratitude in her eyes. She wanted to thank him for saving her, but he seemed to have forgotten all about them, rushing into the massive brawl to have a bit of fun while he still could.

The crowd seemed to realize after a while that staying here to avenge their leader was futile; they clearly didn't have the skills needed to fight these experienced warriors, and they knew it. One by one they started to flee.

Slert and her friend stayed put on the stage, unsure of what to do. Screams of agony mixed with those of joy, as throats and backs and every other body part were sliced open, spilling more blood than the outcast had ever seen in one place.

Almost as fast as it begun, though, the slaughter ended. Piles of dead bodies littered the blood-drenched floor and the group of warriors celebrated their victory in the midst of it, cheering and generally having a good time.

Thinking it was safe to venture forward and wanting to know a bit about their rescuers, Slert started to walk toward the group. On the way she retrieved her captor's deadly knife, a small means of protection. It seemed that her friend was thinking something similar, for she caught up to her and took the lead.

"Excuse me?" she said when the apparent leader had finished gloating to one of the ladies in the group. She suddenly grew suspicious, narrowing her eyes before continuing, "But who are you?"

Slert, wanting to have her say and make her presence known as well, added curiously, "Indeed. Thank you for saving us, but please tell me who you are."

The heads of the others turned to look at them. They hadn't realized that the two were still alive after all of that. The purple-eyed one was the first to respond, his eyes mischievously narrowed while saying, "Identify yourselves first."

Her companion, quick to answer, told him before Slert could even open her mouth, "My name is Katz, and this is Slert."

Slert nearly didn't catch the other Irken's name, Sideos, because she was too busy thinking of what had just been said. Katz. Her mother; the one she'd been fighting for and secretly trying to locate, had been right at her side this whole time and she hadn't even realized it.

She didn't bother to listen to the rest of the conversation. She didn't feel the creeping on her skin. She didn't notice the suddenly dark atmosphere around her. Everything just seemed t melt away as she realized what this meant. She was in shock.

The one thing that shook her out of her shock was, well, shaking. The entire building had randomly started to shake violently, the bodies on the ground flopping like fish out of water. Much to her surprise, she seemed to be the only one who noticed this.

Heads did turn, however, when the blood at their feet started to move about on its own, dripping upward toward the ceiling. Shadows, seeming to come from nowhere at all, joined the blood, circling around it ominously.

"What the…" a tall Irken with a scar across the right side of his face gaped as he toke hold of a nearby Irken, his lover. She in turn brought her knife up in defence, a fearful look plastered on her face.

Looking around nervously another tall Irken announced, "This… isn't possible…"

Not knowing what else to say another answered as he tightly gripped his gun, "Tell that to the blood and shadows!"

The others' shouts and fear-filled comments filled the room as they all stared in awe at the strange phenomenon. This was all so odd, and nobody had any idea what to do.

Slert was just as confused as everyone else. As the blood started to get drawn to the middle of the room to form a tendril of sorts, the slow moving shadows did the same, except the shadowy pillar was reaching toward the bloody one.

"There HAS to be a scientific explanation!" Slert shouted in blind fear, as the two tendrils started to morph slightly and take shape.

"Sideos!" the pretty girl who'd first suggested they run squealed, "You're the leader… what do you think we should do?"

Much to the group's dismay, no answer came, their leader frozen on the spot. He was pale and shaking violently in fear.

Seeing that their leader wouldn't protect them the group went crazy. As the monster before them grew limbs and a head, its summoning nearly complete, all control was lost and pure instinct took over.

The members of the gang who had guns, including Katz, began firing blindly at the being. It laughed menacingly as the bullets and laser beams passed through its newly formed body harmlessly.

Slert, like the others, was completely wrapped up in the whole ordeal. So she was just as surprised when she heard a gunshot separate from the rest. She turned her head to see what had happened, which caused her to miss what happened next.

The lone bullet passing through the ritual leader's head put him down once and for all, putting an end to the ritual in turn. As the Irken's brains splattered across the floor a terrifying unnatural roar erupted from the nearly complete beast, his shadowy form rippling.

Slert covered her antennae, the horrible wail ringing through her head. By that time she'd turned back to the monster, and was slightly regretting doing so. As its roar ended it gave one final violent ripple before exploding.

The mass of blood showered down on the group, drenching their asylum uniforms. The tall, sensitive seeming on pouted as he wiped some of the blood from his face, "I was TRYING to stay CLEAN!"

Everyone seemed to ignore him, each busy with removing the blood from their own clothes and faces. Though the whole ordeal had shocked Slert, at the same time she was glad it had happened; now she was psyched, pumped for whatever would come next as they tried to escape.

Before Slert knew what was happening she heard Sideos yell, almost screech, in rage. While holding on of his own in the air by the collar of her uniform he bellowed, "I was NOT crying!"

An argument ensued between most of them. The began to gang up on Sideos, taunting him and gawking about how he'd been cowering from the monstrous creature like a spooked smeet instead of trying to fight it.

"YES! YES, OK! I'M FUCKING AFRAID OF FUCKING GHOSTS! IT'S A FUCKING PHOBIA!" Sideos yelled at the top of his lungs, his eye twitching. He'd completely lost it among the taunting.

The one who seemed to be his rival started to laugh hard, not giving him a break. He egged the man on, until he finally looked ready to snap and kill the guy.

Just before Sideos was about to fling himself at the guy, the timid looking Irken stepped between the two, saying with an urgent tone to his voice, "GENTLEIRKENS! We don't have time to fight between us; we need to work together if we're going to get out of this alive."

::End of Chapter 19::

Wait... what? Slert's companion was the one she was seeking and fighting for the whole time? Who could have thought that would happen?

I don't know if that was predictable or not, but it's happened regardless!

Madness shall ensue now that Slert's officially with Sideos' group, you shall see. If you've read Escape (which you really should have done by now for the full detail that goes into this world) you know what's happening, but now you'll get to see if through Slert's eyes. The story will still revolve around her and everything, though.

Also, permission was gained to recreate all these characters, both from Invader-Sideos and from all the owners of the irkens who appear. I wanted to make sure that was OK with everyone before even starting this project.

All characters (c) their respective owners.


	20. Chapter 20

Chapter 20

They all agreed, though Slert could tell that the tension between the two didn't cease in the least; if anything it grew as they moved out, exiting through the doors opposite the one they'd entered.

Sideos was at the head of the pack, still proclaiming to be the leader. Slert, near the back of the group, took this travel time to ask a few questions.

"Hey, you," she whispered to a nearby Irken, who was about the same height as her, "Since it looks like I'll be tagging along with all of you for the time being, I should probably at least know the names of my fellow escapees. Think you could help me out with that?"

The girl nodded, and began to point out all the members of the group. She gave only their names and where they all stood in this gang, but that was perfectly OK with Slert; it was a start, which was all she needed right now. She finished off the introductions by saying, "And my name's Meg."

"Thanks a lot… this should make things a bit easier," Slert said gratefully, only now realizing that Sideo's argument with the one named Kaiser was still going full throttle. Now it seemed that nearly everyone was involved, everyone but the person they were talking about.

In response to the things being said between the two of them Katz rolled her eyes and told them, "I don't even know what most of you are talking about. Isn't getting out of this place the most important thing?"

Slert, wanting to insert herself into the affairs of her new companions, decided she would speak up as well. She realized that since finding out one of her companions was Katz she'd been avoiding her slightly, suddenly unsure of what to do.

She spoke up, "Yes, escaping is the number one priority here, not who's ordering who around."

Leaning back slightly from her position beside a tall purple-eyed Irken, Tika, Meg told her, "You gotta understand. These guys have always thought of themselves as the best of all us here, so it's natural they'd want to take immediate command."

Suddenly Sideos's voice broke through their hushed discussion, "What are you guys talking about? You need to HURRY! It won't be long until the Armada gets here!"

He was right, and they all knew it. Hurriedly they caught up to him, for in their discussion they'd fallen behind. Not caring to wait they continued, asking the Irken with the scar over his eye and his lover, Kunst and Vagnur, which way they were to go next.

They pointed the way, and they all began to travel through many identical corridors. After losing their way everyone started to chip in, each suggesting which way they thought would lead to the exit.

Soon they became completely lost, and their frustration could clearly be seen. They found themselves in front of an open cell, blood smeared everywhere. None seemed to think anything of it – this had become a regular occurrence – and as Sideos lost his temper he began to bicker with those around him.

"There seems to be a doctor or drone or whatever in here, bleeding to death," Neep, the sensible acting one, said softly, interrupting their argument and pointing into the gory cell.

Sideos looked over, seeing that he was indeed right. They had found a living being, and as a drone he might know something. He said, shrugging and turning to his followers, "Oh, and a dead inmate… damn, this second floor just keeps getting creepier and creepier… still, Logic says he may know a way out."

Sirra, the other female who'd been captured for the ritual, called out to the drone politely after looking around, "Excuse me? Might you be so kind to point us out?"

Kaiser, the final ritual hostage and the one who looked to be Sirra's lover and Sideo's rival, laughed softly, "Darling, you have such a way with drones. Allow me–" he raised his voice before addressing the drone, "–Hey, DRONE! Where's the damn exit?"

No answer came, and their leader was quick to give up. He suggested they keep moving and they all agreed. They were about to head off again when they heard the slightest whisper come from the cell.

"I'm in far too much physical anguish to think clearly, but keep going down the hall. There are less delusionals that way… they'll help you," he said before sliding down the wall into a pool of his own blood, completely unconscious.

Frowning, Sideos said, "I don't know if we should trust a drone."

"Why not? It wasn't like he had anything to lose by lying to us," Neep countered.

Katz agreed with Neep, "Yeah, I say we follow his advice."

"It was him who suggested we ask the drone… he's so contradictory…" Slert muttered to herself, speaking of their leader.

"I say we vote on it!" Meg suggested, popping out from behind Kunst's legs. She was happy to see that everyone agreed with her, and they commenced the voting process.

"Right, who votes for NOT following his advice?" Sideos asked after clearing his throat. He was the only one to shoot his hand high into the air.

When he was finished Kaiser shouted enthusiastically, "Who votes FOR following his advice?"

Everyone but Sideos raised their hands high, deciding what they were to do. It may be risky and dangerous to take the drone's advice, but it was a chance they felt they had to take. Heck, they were already escapees.

"Well," Kaiser smirked victoriously, "That's settles it, doesn't it!"

They all began to walk, passing Sideos. As Slert walked past him she could feel the anger emanating from him, and hurried her pace a bit. She could tell that he'd soon snap, and she didn't want to be anywhere near him when he did.

************

"Sideos? Where exactly are we? We've been walking through here for at least an hour now and we don't seem to be getting anywhere," Neep said sheepishly, pointing out the troublesome fact.

"Yeah… all these damn walls look the same," the Irken named Cello added darkly.

As a random inmate stumbled past them with a spaced out look in her eyes Katz murmured loudly, "And we can hardly ask the locals for directions."

From the head of the group – he'd caught up to them and had taken back his spot there – Sideos asked a short man named Gar, "Gary old bean, where the great Tallest are we?"

"I'm not sure…" he reported slowly, thinking hard, "I was sure we'd come out near the resident halls if we came through the main hall… but that's clearly not the case…"

As everyone fell silent Sideos whipped around to face Kunst and Vagnur. Showing just the slightest hint of panic he asked them, "Do you have any idea where we're supposed to be?"

Slert heard an inmate named Tika mumble something, but paid it no attention. She was starting to grow panicked along with a few others there; here they were, completely lost, wasting time they needed to get out of there. No way did she want to be so close to escape, just to be shoved back into her cell.

Much to her dismay, Vagnur answered quickly, "We've never been down here before, so how should we know where we are?"

"Yes, we hardly know ever corner of this damn place," Kunst added, nodding in agreement.

Slert felt her spirit fall; things were looking dim for them right then. She didn't show it, though. Feelings like that could be contagious, and if everyone felt that way their chances of getting out of there would surely plummet.

"All right. Does anyone know where we are?" Sideos asked the group, his eyes scanning them all. When nobody answered he sighed, continuing, "I suppose we'll just have to… guess our way out or something. Or maybe find a doctor or nurse who we can use to show us the way."

Tika's mumblings had grown louder amongst their discussion, almost to the point of yelling. Jumping up from her stance on all fours she said loudly, "Tika smell… ONE-EYE!"

Cello, just as maddened by the situation as everyone else, growled as Tika began to childishly run around the group, "What is she going on about now?"

"TALLSNACK!" she ranted, grinning madly, "SHE EATS COOKIE! He tastes good…"

At the unusual names spouting out of her mouth Vagnur raised an antennae. He questioned curiously, "One-Eye?"

"One-Eye… maybe she means Doctor Klik? He has a visor; she might think that's 'one eye', after all…" Neep speculated out loud, frowning slightly.

Surprised at how powerful her cannibalistic companion's nose was, Meg gaped, "You mean she can smell Dr. Klik?"

Everyone seemed to brighten up a bit. Grinning in excitement Katz exclaimed, "He can lead us out of here! Especially if it's Klik; I've heard he's as crazy as the rest of us!"

The one named Tamy frowned, trying to recall something, "Doesn't he have that little assistant guy? Spudkick or something?"

Kaiser shook his head simply, correcting her, "Sputnik."

"COOKIE!" Tika shouted, correcting his correction.

He almost didn't need to, but deciding to add to the optimistic atmosphere that had suddenly manifested his troops, he did anyway. Pointing in the air he encouraged, "TIKA! Go, girl! Find Kliky!"

Enthusiastically the crazy Irken tore down the hall on all fours, leading the way. She stopped only to make sure she was following the scent correctly, and even then that was seldom. The gang struggled to keep up with her.

On the way to the doctor Slert came to a realization. She knew this place; it was where the doctors would relax, where she'd met up with Skippy and Mica. Her adventure had taken her nearly full circle… to think she'd been so close all that time and hadn't even known it.

Along the way she passed the open door of her doctor's suite, fleetingly remembering the files she'd stolen. They ran down the hall and she saw a crumpled mound, and instantly knew what had become of Mica. Down another hall, which had ended in a dead end, she could clearly see that evil man's victims: the hulking Irken who's almost killed him, and his own assistant.

She pushed those thoughts of remembrance away for now, not wishing for them to slow her down. Soon enough Tika came to a halt at one of the doors, one that looked like it had already been beaten quite a lot.

Tika's insistent growling told the rest of them that this was indeed their destination. The rest of them caught up to her shortly after she arrived, nearly completely out of breath. One of the Irkens, who Slert understood was named Scintille, doubled over as he panted heavily, "Well, at least we've found them."

Not knowing how it was possible, Neep asked between deep breaths, "How can she even smell him through a closed door?"

Uncaring of how she was able to do it, Sideos pushed his question aside, "Never mind that, the point is that we've found ourselves a guide out of here."

Now that they were at the door, Tika began rambling again. She muttered loudly, slightly disgusted, "Smoky… smoky nasty smell…"

Sirra's eyes widened as she caught a whiff, "Hey… she's right! Someone's smoking in there!"

Wanting to see what the commotion was all about, Slert went ahead and sniffed the air. She was flooded with the overwhelming stench of cigarette smoke. Scrunching up her face and sticking out her tongue she muttered, "Yuck, smokers…"

Kaiser, thinking this through, said slowly as he scratched his chin thoughtfully, "To my knowledge… Klik doesn't smoke."

Grinning at the thought Sirra told them, "Oh, but I know someone who does."

::End Chapter 20::

The adventure continues! I won't bother explaining any of this because if you've read Escape by *Invader-Sideos like I've told you to 10 dozen times, you already know the basics of what's happening! Well, more than the basics, really... pretty much everything this doesn't tell about too! XD

Anyway, yeah. Only one chapter this week, and possibly every week from now on. I still haven't gotten to writing the ending out, I've been super busy on all my other projects. So to make sure you all don't wait too long for updates, it's one chapter a week from now on. Actually, since I've been skimping out on the irken fanfictions lately for the tf2 ones, I'll be uploading all the chapters I missed. So you can expect two or three more today.

All characters (c) their respective owners  
Escape (c) Invader-Sideos  
Invader Zim (c) JV


	21. Chapter 21

Chapter 21

In unison five of the Irkens present, the Royal Five as they'd been nicknamed by their fellow inmates, stood still for a moment, their eyes wide with realization. Slert didn't know why they were suddenly so tense, but she soon figured it out.

Collectively, and with a sense of hate among them, they said loudly, "Doctor Greep!"

Doctor Greep; the name sounded familiar, and Slert knew she'd heard it somewhere before. If she remembered correctly he was one of the most infamous doctors in the asylum, if only for his attitude. He usually dealt with the more dangerous Irkens, the Royal Five included.

"Oooh, I have a few things I'd like to tell him," Sirra said sadistically, going over what she wanted to happen in her mind, the whole time grinning madly.

Sideos, quick to assume what would happen, barked at her, "They can wait, at least until he leads us out of this place."

Not liking the thought of waiting Sirra asked, "Why should I wait?"

Crossing his arms Sideos explained matter-of-factly, "Because Tika is obviously going to eat Klikton and Sputniky alive. You at least have a little bit of restraint, so we'll use Greeply to lead us out of here."

Pouting, Sirra crossed her arms, "All right… but I still get to torture him later."

"That's if we have time," Katz pointed out.

Gleefully Sideos clapped his hands and announced, "Then it's settled! Tika gets Kliko and Sputsty, and Sirra can have Greepto!"

Slert blinked, realizing something just a bit odd. Sideos seemed to like to twist peoples' names around randomly, giving them a new nickname every few minutes. Why that struck her at the moment she didn't know.

She leaned toward Meg, who had become her source of random information, cupped her hand over her mouth so minimal Irkens would hear her, and asked, "Does he always do that with names?"

Meg merely nodded in response, rolling her eyes. Slert could tell that his constant name changing would get on her nerves, but she'd do her best to live with it; he was the one who had rescued her and he was the one leading her to freedom, after all.

Their plans finalized, their leader turned to the task at hand: getting into the room. He turned to the rest of them and said, "OK! All those with guns, fire at the door. All those without, well–" he stopped momentarily to shrug "–Cover our entrance!"

While everyone stepped back a few steps Neep, Gar, Kaiser, Scintille, Tamy, and Katz all moved to the front of the door, ready to break in. Slert would have joined them, but all she had with her was the dagger she'd snatched. Her gun had been lost when she and Katz had been abducted.

Neep, being pessimistic again, asked nervously, "Will this… actually work?"

As he loaded his gun Gar smirked, "Well if I was them I would have barricaded the door up, so this is just thinking one step ahead."

Not wanting to hurt a member of the team, Katz asked Tika, who was still growling and clawing at the door, "Tika? Please come away from the door."

Tika looked away from the door to see six guns being loaded and prepped. Her eyes widened and she said oddly, "Noisy sticks…"

"Yes, Tika, noisy sticks," Scintille added, also not wanting to hurt her, "So move out of the way."

Obediently she moved out of the way, their guns scaring her slightly. No, she didn't particularly like guns, or more specifically, the noises they made when fired.

"All right," Kaiser said confidently as he raised his gun and the others followed, "Ready?"

"FIRE!" Sideos burst, not caring to wait for a signal from his rival. He was the leader, so he would give the orders around here.

The sound of gunfire erupted in the fairly deserted hall. The air flashed yellow and orange as the bullets and lasers spun from their containment chambers. As spectacular as it was, though, the light show lasted only a mere few seconds.

The door broke from its hinges, toppling inward. With a loud crashing noise it landed atop a single desk, which then collapsed under the pressure. That desk had been the only thing barricading the door, and their shower of gunfire had completely decimated it.

As Gar lowered his weapon he said, "Well… I seem to have–" he stopped to laugh a bit "–underestimate their intelligence."

Right away Tika rushed into the room, and the others crammed in after her. It was a mess, like a tornado had ripped through there or something. Desks and chairs, personal belongings and food from their unfinished meals, even a few articles of clothing littered the floor randomly.

Other than the general uncleanliness, however, it seemed relatively normal. The colours of the floor and walls were dull and business-like. Cubicles filled the middle of the room, each separated from each other by movable grey walls.

The only thing that really stood out was a pile of those grey walls clustered together, like a makeshift volcano-looking structure. It was the doctors' protective fortress, and from the top drifted the smoke of Greep's cigar.

She could clearly hear the doctors bickering amongst themselves, obviously panicked.

"I told you, ve zould have barricaded dhe door more!" one of them, Doctor Greep, told the other, his accent thick.

"Well I told YOU that we should have escaped sooner!" the other, Dr. Klik, argued quickly, his middle-eastern Irken accent just barely poking through.

Greep said quickly, almost defensively, "And mizz dhe chance ov getting zuch rare research notez? NEVER!"

As Sirra spoke up to announce their presence, Slert took that time to think things over. She knew that their conversation wouldn't concern her since she knew neither of the doctors personally, and assumed it was safe to stay out of it.

She thought of the gang she was now a part of and how she could better contribute to the effort of escaping. She could help think up plans if the leader allowed it; if she called Streerch that would definitely help, but she didn't want to play that card just yet. If need be she could bring out her darker side and become savage to survive, but that would probably do more harm than good.

While she was thinking the possibilities over, the two doctors poked their heads over the top of their fortress. One was nervous and panicked about showing himself, while Doctor Greep, with his cigar hanging from his mouth and a technological notepad in his hand, wore a fascinated look on his face.

Upon seeing Klik, Tika completely went berserk. Slert didn't know much about the girl, but she was sure that what happened next was definitely something out of the ordinary in this madhouse.

Miraculously, he managed to talk her down, "Does Tika want to see Sister Zapp?"

Tika's expression changed instantly to one of a curious nature, and she stopped dead in her tracks, "Tika see… Sister Zapp?"

"If Tika eats Tall Snack and Scardy Cookie, then Tika no see Sister Zapp ever again," Klik continued, completely keeping his cool. He knew how to handle this from years of working with her.

Sliding to the bottom of his fortress, Tika looked at the floor sadly. Klik had crushed her spirit and drive to kill effortlessly, that much was obvious. She said slowly, "Oh…kay…doh…kay…"

Still wanting to be a good doctor in this unusual time, Klik reached into his red doctor's coat and pulled out a treat. He tossed it down to his patient, who took it and began gnawing on it miserably.

They all stared in silence at her, Slert and Katz included, completely in awe over what had just happened. Never before had they seen anything like that, and were truly shocked.

"WOW! Escaping, sieges, ghosts, and now Tika being talked down!" Sideos randomly called out to break the silence. Putting his claws on his hips he smiled, "What a day, eh?"

As Cello made a witty comment about the weirdness of their adventure, Klik looked into the file cabinet drawer he was holding at his right side. Smiling he said to it, "See, Sputnik! Nobody's going to kill you!"

Though there was no answer, a small head slowly peeked over the top of the drawer. He was probably only barely past smeethood, and it showed. Upon seeing the group of fourteen crazy Irkens his eyes widened. With a squeak he disappeared back into the safety of his drawer.

"Ah well… he has to come out of there sometime," Klik sighed, giving up for the time being.

"You mean, you've been carrying him around in that thing all this time?" Neep questioned, his antennae raised curiously.

"He won't leave! It's his safe place, you know," Klik shrugged, answering the inquiry. The small Irken confirmed it, whimpering from inside the metal box.

Although Slert wanted to continue listening to the entertaining conversations going on, her mind wouldn't allow it. She had too much to think about, too much to figure out. She did manage to keep tabs on who was doing what and hear snippets of conversations, but for the most part she retired herself to her mind to figure things out.

As Greep heaved himself fearlessly out of his protective fort and began questioning Sideos, Slert thought of one thing in particular: her mother, Katz.

For almost longer than she could remember, she'd been trying to resurrect the Irken's legacy concerning the PAKless, even try to track her down. And now that she'd finally found her after all these years, she had no idea what to do. She'd suddenly become scared, nervous that with one wrong move she could lose her chances of getting close to her.

Now she realized that she'd been avoiding Katz, unsure of what to say or do.

Suddenly she snapped back to what was happening around her. It seemed that she hadn't missed all that much at all; Greep was still analyzing everything they said, and many of them were just watching the events unfold curiously.

"You and… Kaizer?" Greep said in amazement, "You're… togezher?"

Taking Sirra in a romantic embrace Kaiser grinned and replied smugly, "In a matter of speaking…"

Greep's expression, one of surprise, stayed relatively the same upon hearing this.

"We're kinda just in it for the sex," Sirra added, nodding lovingly.

Rolling her eyes Katz said to nobody in particular, "A sadist and a masochist. They go together like…"

"Like Gloomp and Vutten sauce!" Slert finished with a laugh, thinking of two things that one would definitely not think of to be found together. It was her sad attempt at trying to involve herself with Katz.

Klik laughed, having won a bet of his own. He slid down the fortress wall, the drawer tight at his side, and rushed over to Greep to collect his monies.

As Greep handed over the twenty monies and Tika growled harmlessly at Klik, Kaiser and Sirra began fawning over each other again, fantasizing of the sex they'd be sure to have when this was all over.

But Sideos had other ideas. He had a job to do here: regain his respect as their leader.

Speaking so loudly that he caught even the lovebirds' attention he announced, "And that's why Kaiser can't be the leader."

::End of chapter 21::

A wild Greep and Klik appear!

Escape (c) Invader-Sideos  
All characters (c) thier respective owners  
Invader Zim (c) JV


	22. Chapter 22

Chapter 22

Kaiser, getting slightly annoyed with the purple-eyed Irken's constant campaignes, narrowed his eyes and asked, "What?"

Striding toward his audience with his hands clasped behind his back as if he was talking to a jury Sideos smirked, "As you can see, all Kaiser really cares about is jumping into bed with Sirry here."

Slert, among others, had definitely noticed that. She was about to say something but before she could Sideos continued.

"But I, being of a desire-less nature, will never place the idea of getting laid before the safety of my tribe," he continued heroically, a fist now to his chest.

Slert thought that over for a moment; that desire to have sex could most definitely put the rest of the group in danger. In agreement with his statements she nodded.

"I have looked out for you all from the moment the doors opened," he said, grinning and pointing a razor sharp claw at Kaiser accusingly, "Kaiser looks out only for himself."

Not even his lust for Sirra could overpower the rage Kaiser felt right then. His hands left her hips and balled into fists as he growled, "Listen, Sideos, if I want to lead ahead of you I will. Not only do I have more leadership experience, but I don't make decisions based on how I feel. Regardless, I'm NOT going to take orders from a northern-Irk moron with an over inflated ego."

Crossing his arms across his chest and sneering at his opponent Sideos said, "And what? You think anyone would listen to a failed Eastern-Irk luteneint who can't keep his eyes off the nearest girl?"

The two glared at each other, neither backing down. Silence, a tense silence of the ages, fell over the onlookers. They could tell that this would undoubtedly get ugly fast.

"Face it, Kaisling. I'm better than you are," Sideos announced, his voice calm yet oddly vicious.

Drawing one of his knives Kaiser growled. He retorted, "Then why don't you prove it. Or are you… a coward?"

That was it, the challenge had been set. Neither of the two would back down willingly. Slert held her breath, anticipating their match; it would be something spectacular to behold, a once in a lifetime opportunity.

Even the doctors seemed enticed; they seemed not to notice the group of dangerous psychopaths, focusing only on the two rivals. It was a raw static tension that spread throughout the room, choking all within its wake.

The room grew so silent right then that everything happening outside sounded like it was right beside them in the office.

Although they were nowhere near outside, the conflict seemed like it would be fought eons in the past, when Irkens used steel and sweat to do battle in the harshest of conditions.

Slert very well knew that seeing a battle such as this would be a once in a lifetime chance. It would be a test of their skill, power, and strength, and the victor would be the one who understood the nature of war and death to the highest degree.

She was honoured to witness such a spectical, for it was the only way to understand something such as this. This was one of those things that couldn't be taught in school or filmed; it was completely unique.

Just like everyone around her, she knew she was about to watch a fight of the ages, one that would go down in the history books. Two of the most dangerous and insane Irkens in the empire were about to do battle and chances were only one would survive.

Slert hoped more than anything right then that she'd live to tell the tale of this epic confrontation.

As everyone looked on Sideos's eyes narrowed. No doubt he was deciding how to take his opponent down. Soon he moved into a battle stance, ready to attack. A dangerously sly smile spread across his face as his oppenent readied himself.

Kaiser seemed to skip the planning phase, already confident that he knew how to take Sideos down. He too moved into a battle stance of his own, ready to do battle. As he moved his expression remained emotionless, though his eyes glinted dangerously.

Everyone continued to stare at them anxiously, an odd excitement manifesting them. The chances they'd see something like this again or probably even live to tell the tale were slim at this point; Klik and Greep, despite knowing they'd never get to present them in person, were vigerously taking notes as they watched.

Aside from Tika, who was making sure Dr. Klik didn't annoy her, Need seemed to be the only one completely uninterested in the fight. He frowned and said to anyone who happened to be listening at the time, "This is stupid! We're just wasting time when we should be getting out!"

Gar, obviously offended by the comment, turned to Need and growled, "Shut up! Don't you realize how important this is?"

Becoming quite annoyed and confused Need turned to Gar specifically and started, "What? It's just a fight between two idiots who can't realize–"

"NO!" the shorter Irken snarled viciously before turning back to the two warriors, "This decides who gets to lead us out of here… this decides who gets to name himself the best of all of us… this is a fight that's more than just that, though; this is a rivalry of a far deeper sense."

Sirra seemed to be the only one with mixed emotions. Though seeing the two rip each other to shreds would be a spectacular sight, she worried for her Kaiser. So many things could go wrong to put him in danger. She whispered to herself, "Come on, Kaiser… beat him…"

Seeing the crowd looking on anxiously Sideos grinned wider, "Ready to die, Kai-boy?"

"Not before you, Strudelkopf," Kaiser said just as threateningly.

Slert had no idea what 'strudelkopf' meant, but it seemed to get to the Irken's opponent. He pounced at Kaiser, growling madly, and immediately tried to gut him with his razor sharp claws. Kaiser easily blocked the attack and swung at his face, knocking him back.

Sideos fell to the ground hard but was quickly again good to go after skilfully sweepkicking. He used the afterspin of the evasive maneuver to knock his oppenent off balance, at which point he aimed a powerful high kick. Kaiser barely avoided the attack.

Before he knew what was happening Kaiser felt a palm smash against his chest. Sideos moved to strike again but Kaiser caught his arm and used his lightning-fast momentum against him, allowing him to come dangerously close. From there he drove his fist into Sideos's stomach.

Sideos again fell back, this time nearly gasping for air. For a split second he looked surprised, for no one had ever managed to do that, but that soon changed when he was the smug grin on the blue-eyed Irken's face.

He got up and smiled, sure of his abilities. He wiped a drip of blood from his mouth, finding it odd to taste his own blood for once instead of someone else's.

"Nice… but I was going easy on you," Sideos taunted.

"Funny," Kaiser retorted, "So was I."

From in front of Slert Sirra muttered, "Oh great Tallest that was HOT!"

Neep, who was still disapproving of this whole ordeal, muttered as the two began launching attacks again, "I can't believe we're just letting this happen…"

This of course sparked yet another argument on the matter, which was only broken up by Tamy asking randomly, "Who do you think will win?"

"Sideos!" Slert answered immediately among the replies of 'Kaier!' and 'they'll kill each other!'. She owed him a debt for saving her, and cheering for him was the least she could do.

The skills of both were being put to the test. Though Sideos was lightning quick he could connect only a few attacks, and Kaiser could neither do any real damage nor be pushed to defend himself.

Both were worthy adversaries for each other, and neither would willingly admit defeat.

At a pace Slert could hardly keep track of punches and kicks and jabs and everything in between were exchanged between the two, and she could hardly believe her eyes. To witness a fight this real, this true, was really something else.

Before long every effort the two had was going into the battle and blood was dripping from their many wounds.

Slert watched on with everyone else, amazed that they could fight for so long without a victor emerging. It was as if this battle was meant to happen, like fate had decided it long before the escape.

The doctors even, while previously obsessed with taking notes, were steadily slowing in their scribbling. Even they were caught up in the event and odd addicting feeling of the fight.

Neep found it impossible to be interested in the fight, "People, please! We have to get out of here! We still might have some time go get out before the armada get here!"

Gar, growing tired of his constant complaining, spun around and threatened, "Neep! If you interrupt this I swear I'll break your neck!"

Neep growled in response, keeping the mission in mind, "This is stupid! This is a barbaric show of stupidity! This is the most stupid thing we could be doing right now!"

"We could be having some sort of cannibal sex orgy," Sirra mused, not thinking of what she was saying and still absorbed in her lover's battle, "That'd be pretty stupid."

"We could be running into the walls with our pants on our heads," Meg squeaked, trying to be funny with everyone, "That'd be REALLY stupid."

"…THAT'S IT!" Neep hollered, "I'm leaving! I can no longer stand you people!"

"Go, then. See if you survive or find your way out alone," Gar said uncaringly, not looking away from the epic fight before him.

Neep looked like he was about to explode, but namaged to stay calm. Putting his head in his hands and slumping agains the wall-fort he muttered to himself, "Why do I even bother? I'm talking to insane people… I'm an insane person… this is so moronic…"

As all of this went on the fight intensified further, the two somehow managing to hit harder and move faster. But both were beginning to show their exhausion; Sideos was getting slower and Kaiser's attacks were becoming less accurate. It was now a battle of willpower, yet neither would ever admit defeat.

In mid-attack Sideos caught Kaiser's arms and tried to snap them, but Kaiser was quick to counter and they were suddenly in locked in their positions. With so little breathing space between the two Slert was amazed they had this much energy to fight.

Pushing toward his opponenet Sideos smirked, "I must admit, you've got moves, Kai-boy. But you ain't gunna win. I'm the best there is, ever, and I will not let some old unfashionable rapist take my title."

Pushing back Kaiser growled, "I've eaten people like you for breakfast. I swear I'll kill you."

Sideos retorted devilishly, "Not if I kill you first. I love clichés, don't you? So overdone but often so TRUE."

"I hate you. Is that clichéd enough for you?" Kaiser growled simply.

Seeing that he was starting to get to Kaiser, Sideos grinned wider. Winking he said, "You're just saying that because you secretly want me. Oh, I can see right through you, Kaiberino. Your passion for a piece of my hot self is burning through you. But I'm afraid I don't do ugly old guys, or anyone for that matter, you'll just have to go back to Sirry Wirry."

::end of chapter 22::

So, the epic fight told from a different angle. I hope it didn't turn out too badly... I had to cut a lot of things down to keep the focus primarily on Slert and her watching it, but I think it turned out decent at least.

Escape (c) Invader-Sideos  
All characters (c) their respective owners  
Invader Zim (c) JV


	23. Chapter 23

Chapter 23

That last comment had pushed Kaiser over the edge, it was clear to see; his eyes were burning with a rage so intense that Slert thought he just might lose control and kill them all.

Luckily he didn't, and instead the two combatants broke apart to prepare for their next confrontation. While Kaiser did this so he could plan a new attack, Sideos was just sick of seeing the Irken's face so close up.

Once again the battle lines had been drawn, and they both were read to continue their battle for power.

Slert could feel her excitement grow as the two tensed and prepared themselves for the continuation of the fight. She needed to see who would be the victor; at the moment, escape was nothing compared to this.

Before they could do much of anything, though, a very loud sound caught their attention. It sounded very much like a bomb of some sort going off, and they sure felt the vibrations it triggered. The entire prison shook with so much force that even the wall-fort collapsed and Slert almost lost her balance.

All at once everyone's attention was focused on the noise. Looking up at the flickering lights Sideos stole the words right out of Slert's mouth, "What the FUCK was that?"

"It sounded like a 45T-Fritvena bomb detonating three, maybe four miles above the prison," Gar said as he kicked a fallen chair away from him and got up.

"What the…" Slert muttered, looking at him oddly.

"When you're a tactician, they teach you how to recognise different explosions. That one was obviously to let us know that they're here," he explained.

"That who's here?" Meg squeaked loudly, confused about the matter. She was still caught up in the fight.

With a deep hate-filled growl Tamy answered, "The fucking army. The reinforcements have arrived."

"Then we should get moving right away, before they infiltrate too deep into the base to cut off our escape," Kaiser suggested randomly, making the fight with Sideos his second priority.

Sirra rushed to him, flirting, "We should; we need to escape and find somewhere to hide… like under some bed covers maybe?"

Kaiser smiled lustfully down at her, "We'll have to bring some knives and whips, just in case…"

Sirra said something else but Slert didn't quite hear it over Sideos's shouting, "WHOA there Mr. Rushypants! We still have a fight to finish!"

As she dug the remaining Irkens from the rubble Katz yelled urgently, "You'll have to postpone it to another time. And send me a ringside ticket, by the way; I want to see who wins."

"HEY, I WON!" Sideos pouted, unable to let this go.

"No, you didn't. I was about to kill you," Kaiser told him smugly, as he and Sirra rejoined the group of escapees.

Pointing a finger accusingly at his foe Sideos yelled, "Prove it! You can't because you were gunna get that stick up your ass kicked further… up your ass… I HATE YOU!"

Only just snapping out of spectator mode Cello gaped, "Wait, you mean they're already here? Why aren't we all running for the exits?"

Still amazed at how skilled the two were at fighting Slert piped up, "Because what's the point in missing a good battle?"

"True, that," Scintille agreed before adding, "Besides, I'm itching to kill someone."

"I know this will end badly…" Neep groaned as he rubbed his eyes, "But we don't have much time."

Knowing it wouldn't work but deciding to give it a try nonetheless Klik offered, "You could always just surrender?"

"Amazink. In times ov need, dhey gazher in order to fight dheir kommon enemiez!" Greep exclaimed, as he again started to take notes.

As Kunst and Vagnur yelled at Greep a bit, everyone else took the time to reorganize themselves. Slert soon found herself grouped with Scintille, Katz, and Meg, all of whom were guarding Klik and Greep. Cello and Tamy lead ahead of the group of six, with Sideos and Gar ahead of them, and all the couples bringing up the rear.

They were ready to head out, this group of the most dangerous Irkens Seven had to offer. Between all of them they'd done everything imaginable, but they weren't thinking of that; they just wanted their freedom back.

Sideos quickly steered the group in the right direction, toward the nearest technician's staircase. By now the elevators would be shut down, so the stairs were their best bet. It would cost them an extra thirty minutes in the very least, but they had no other options at this point.

"Alright team!" Sideos announced, as he turned around and walked backward, "We've got a lot of ground to cover with heavy fire and bad vibes coming from all around, so I want you all on your most vicious, mass murdering behaviour for the rest of the trip."

Slert smiled. The fight had already begun to bring out her darker side, so getting the rest to come out would be fairly easy. And without a doubt she'd bring it out in order to survive; she'd choose death over another cell here any day, just like many of the others.

She turned to the two doctors and growled darkly, "You'd better not try anything… you don't want to see me when it comes out."

************

An eerie silence engulfed the group of convicts and they heard only the sounds of their footsteps and the sound of the various battles going on. They all held their weapons on the way to the third floor, always on the guard.

Slert smiled. They were on their way to the third floor, and after that they'd all finally be free. She could almost taste the freedom. She felt like she might not be able to make it, but the thought of the sun on her face kept her going.

From the back of the group they heard Gar voice many of their thoughts, "I... I can't go on. I'm too tired."

Sideos, who wasn't one to stand for his underlings giving up, shouted fiercely, "MOVE IT! If you don't, I'll take you up in pieces! Understand?"

Sirra, from somewhere along the line of irkens, made an insult of some sort. Slert didn't catch exactly what it was, but apparently Gar had. And he didn't like it.

"FUCK YOU GUYS!" he yelled madly, "I'll climb this damn thing and kick each and every one of your arses!"

This only made the lot of them laugh harder, something that the majority of them needed desperately. Though they hadn't been at this very long it felt like they'd been climbing the stairs for hours. As it was, if they continued at this pace, it would be at least another hour before they reached the next floor.

Because of the nearly constant explosions rocking the prison-asylum they had to move slowly; any wrong move could send one of them tumbling into the abyss of the elevator shaft.

Slert shivered with everyone else as she climbed the stairwell, a cold and icy breeze drifting through the air. She hadn't realized that the planet outside had been so cold; she'd never been allowed out, and there was seldom a window with a view of the exterior.

She now realized that the sub-zero climate was harsher than she could've imagined. The perfect place to do research on the most dangerous criminals and insane. Among the harsh life of the planet surface they were completely hidden.

"I'm never coming to another ice planet... I'm going to toast myself on some desert planet first," Sideos complained, unaware that his voice carried so much in the tunnel.

From across from Slert Katz commented, "I didn't know you were into tanning?"

They saw their leader look down to yell at her, but he stopped before he could and muttered softly, clinging to the ladder, "Whoa."

"What?" Neep frowned, pausing, "Are you afraid of heights as well as ghosts?"

Slert couldn't help but let out a giggle, but quickly quieted down and listened for his answer. It could be entertaining.

"Nooo..." he growled, "But I just got one of those... you know when you're in a voot and you're coming down on a planet and the whole planet is there before you and it's like 'dude, we're so high'? Like one of those things."

Having done a few experiments in the area Slert suggested, "... You mean vertigo?"

"Kinda, yeah. But maybe that's the point," the irken chuckled, as he began to climb again, "Damn, I can't remember the last time I was this high."

A discussion about everyone's academy days boiled up to pass the time shortly after that, but Slert stayed silent. She'd been hunted nearly since birth, and had never gotten the chance to do anything like that.

Listening to the stories kept her going, though, and before long they reached the exit. To signal that they'd reached the end Sideos exclaimed excitedly, "FINALLY!"

Doctor Klik, his voice brimming with hope, asked with relief, "The exit... about time, my arms were getting tired."

A brisk order from Gar for him to shut up quickly caused him to quiet down, but it was clear that he was happy to see the door.

This better be the exit, you moronic prick," Gar told Sideos, growing tired of the constant distractions. He just wanted to get out of this hellhole.

"Oh, I don't know..." Sideos replied sarcastically, "Maybe it's the sign and flashing light but DAMN, it could be a closet."

"Just get climbing!" Tamy insisted over Gar's grumbling, "I wanna get back to shooting people in the face!"

Slert agreed with everyone else, wanting to get out of there as soon as possible. The freezing cold of the outside planet was starting to get to her, and she wasn't sure how long she could hold up in these conditions.

As they continued through the last of their climb Slert looked around nervously. Explosions could be heard from every angle now, and it caused her to wonder just how much time they had left.

She didn't know much about the military, but even to her it seemed like they were rushing to get in. There was no way they could be taking proper care with their operations, which didn't bode well for their safety.

Trying to shake the thought from her mind she continued on, head down. Not wanting to focus on the distance to the top she climbed mindlessly, and was quite surprised when she tried to take a step but found that there was no step there.

Falling face-first to the ground she scrambled forward to allow the others room, she looked up and smiled widely; they'd finally conquered the stairs.

"That... took too long," Sideos sighed, as he collapsed against the wall for a short and well-deserved rest. Scintille agreed and did the same, in need of a break.

Noticing that the entire space was a catwalk in the darkness Katz announced, "Well, this is just super, isn't it? Trapped on a freezing catwalk in the middle of a big dark tunnel... super."

::end of chapter 23::

So! Another chapter up for you all to see! They're up the stairs, and if you've read Escape like I told you to, you'd know what's going to happen next. From a different angle, of course. Actually, on that note, Escape hasn't been updated for... a long time. Very nearly a year. SO, since I don't want to keep you all waiting, the next chapter will start to deviate from Escape and will again be completely original... or, as original as a fanfiction can get haha! Kind of nervous about that since I'm sure Invader-Sideos has something awesome lined up for the finale, but I guess trying my hand at it isn't such a bad thing.

That being said, next chapter will be out... either later today or in a week or two. I go on vacation in a couple days, so I may not be able to update on time. We shall see.

Escape (c) Invader-Sideos  
All characters (c) their respective owners  
Invader Zim (c) JV


	24. Chapter 24

Chapter 24

"We're not trapped! There's an exit here... somewhere..." Neep replied loudly, his eyes widening, "Does anyone actually know where the exit is?"

"Shouldn't the doctors know?" Cello suggested calmly, looking to Greep and Klik. He was sure they'd know the answer since they worked here.

"Actually, we don't. We were meant to follow the guards in cases like this," Klik told them all sadly.

"Itz iz zavingz zee money," Greep added in their defence, "Don't botzher withz our safety! Juzt zave zome money for da damn .OH."

"It's 'C.E.O'," Neep corrected hotly, "And I happen to know C.E.O.'s are very nice people!"

Growing very sick and tired of the bickering Slert lost her temper somewhat. Glaring at everyone madly she announced, "Can we just SHUT UP for a moment and search for this exit? I'm sure if we all circle around and stick to the wall we'll get to it eventually."

"I can see that evil genius of yours is being put to use," Vagnur mumbled.

Slert growled, taking offence to the comment. If she had the proper supplies and the others would allow it, she could be doing so much more. Unfortunately, resources for her were low.

Fighting to keep her darker side in check she backed down. It wasn't long before she lost all concentration, for another wave of freezing cold wind ploughed through the tunnel.

Shivering violently she clung to the railing. The mass of wind was deafening, but it was gone soon enough and they were back to searching. For a few moments they all inched along the wall before Gar's voice rang out in triumph, "I've found it!"

Slert looked toward where the voice was coming from just in time to see the door fly from its hinges, propelled by a massive explosion. The door took Gar with it, tumbling away.

The small space erupted in a mass of flames, heat, and destroyed metal, causing everyone to shield their faces. The rocking caused by the explosion made them fear for their own lives, and so they clung onto anything they could to stay where they were.

"Please don't fall... please don't fall..." Slert mumbled to herself, unable to think of anything else for the time being. Soon the rocking slowly settled and came to a stop and the fire retreated back into the doorway.

However, they weren't yet out of harm's way. The explosion had destroyed a good few things in its ascent up the tunnel and they heard the creaking of ice from above them. Not long after they were showered with a deathly rain of loose metal and half-melted (but still quite rock solid) shards of ice.

Slowly coming to realize what this sudden intrusion could mean for them Slert began to grow fearful. In the excitement her darker side had been suppressed and she was left with a clear mind, though the thoughts running through her head almost made her wish that wasn't so. As she fought to avoid the metal and ice she whispered hopefully, "Please don't be the army... please don't be the army..."

Eventually the immediate danger subsided and they were again free to move about without worrying about being burned alive or crushed by falling metal. Though still fearful for his own life Neep asked sheepishly, "Gar, is he...?"

An insanely angry voice met their ears, giving them their answer, "BASTARDS! WHOEVER BLEW THAT DOOR UP IS GOIGN TO FUCKING DIE BY MY OWN HANDS!"

Much to their surprise the rapist had survived and was holding onto the ladder they'd all climbed up. His face in particular was covered with burns and blood, but he was alive nonetheless.

They didn't have much time to think about what had happened to him, though, for a youthful voice wafted to their ears, "Oh calm down, Old Timer. It wasn't THAT big of an explosion."

Slert wasn't sure whether she should be scared or happy for what had happened; the voice didn't sound like that of a soldier, but she really couldn't be sure. Keeping her guard up and readying herself for a possible attack she turned around to see who'd opened the door.

There in the doorway stood a shorter-than-average irken with deep green skin. Over his left eye was a light sun-like tattoo and the tip of his right antennae was a smidge darker than the other. Though he wore the standard asylum uniform it was obvious that he wasn't as scrawny as most of them had become over the years.

In his hand he held a remote control and in the other a belt full of grenades. There was no longer a doubt in Slert's mind that he was on their side; if he wasn't they'd likely already be dead.

Grinning, he asked the dumbstruck crowd, "Well, who's going to thank me? That door was frozen shut! There's no way you would have gotten it open without me!"

To this an uproar of valid complaints arose, each pointing out a different flaw with his chosen actions. Slert, however, kept her mouth shut; though she was frustrated with the guy and everything else that had been going on, it wouldn't do anything useful to complain. What was done was done, and complaining wouldn't reverse that fact.

Just as she was about to speak up and say that they really should get going Kaiser suddenly announced, "Everyone, this is Groove. Groove, everyone."

"Hi," the irken grinned, bowing.

He walked back through the door, leading them out of the frozen room. Though it seemed nobody but Kaiser knew him, they didn't care; they were on the last leg of their journey, and after that they'd be free.

As she followed along with everyone else Slert thought she heard Gar yelling, but decided to ignore it. She just wanted to get out of there, as did everyone she was traveling with.

She was the last to walk through the newly opened door, which could now be described as a gaping hole in the wall, and soon found herself in a dark hallway. The lights had all been blown out by the charges Groove had set. It made for an eerie atmosphere as they walked the narrow hallway to the smeet ward and aside from the occasional murmur silence closed in on them.

Soon they came to a second door, which stood slightly ajar, dangling from a set of broken hinges. It was the door which would allow the lot of them access to level three, where dangerous smeets were kept under intense care and supervision, the only thing left to get through before escape would finally become a reality.

They entered the room and stopped short, taken aback by the sudden change of surroundings. While in the previous levels everything had been rather bland and derived of any personality or colour, the walls here were all the colours of the rainbows, with pictures of child-like cartoons. Blood-stained toys littered the ground and not a smeet was in sight.

"Looks like this is the youngest ward up here," Kaiser spoke up. He'd heard somewhere along the way that the third floor was divided into sections based on age. He now believed it to be true.

"Yup, you got that right. I've already scouted out the left half here... the only two exits over there are heavily guarded. Only other places would be the main entrance and a side exit to the far right," Groove told him.

A smile almost immediately crossed Sideos's face. Already he knew which path he wanted to take. He shouted excitedly, "We should make for the main door. Show those damn guards who's boss and get out of here in style!"

To that a cheer rose from the crowd. Most of them seemed to like the idea. They knew that they'd either fight their way to freedom or die trying. Either way, through escape or death, they never wanted to set foot within these walls ever again and wanted to show what they could do.

As the cheers die down Slert thought to herself. Going through the front way would certainly be one way to put on a show, killing their captors left and right, but there was no way it was the most logical decision. Nevertheless she followed obediently as they traversed the halls.

The farther they traveled the more their surroundings changed, from the very babyish design for the newborns to a section with less toys and entertaining figures, and finally a place that looked very much like the other levels, with light grey walls and individual cells.

"This must be where they're kept when they're waiting to be moved down to level two..." Katz muttered, examining an empty cell.

Slert nodded absent-mindedly, though she wasn't paying full attention to what the irken was saying. She was too busy of thinking how she should go about making the final escape and what she would do once she was free.

Her thoughts kept her going until they reached a fork in the road, at which point their leader's voice brought her back to reality. He was giving them another pep talk, possibly the last one before they reached the front door and would have to fight the rest of the way out.

"Listen up, everyone! Ahead of us is the main door from what I'm told, and that means that whatever you've witnessed here, this will be messier, bloodier, and more dangerous," he started, smiling wickedly as he scanned the crowd with his dark purple eyes, "We'll be fighting for our lives... no, our freedom, and we'll take out as many of these bastards as we can to do it!"

At that he threw his fist in the air, letting out a bellowed war cry. Most everyone around Slert joined him, though she kept silent, still conflicted about what she should do. As she stood there not cheering she observed a few others who also weren't cheering.

His speech not yet complete the sadistic irken continued, "Some of us may not make it out of this alive. For those to do, good luck in your new lives!" he turned to his rival Kaiser and growled, "You'd best live. I still have to tear you apart."

Kaiser grinned, a retort flying off his lips, "Hah! You wish. You'll be the one to fall, and I'll be the one towering over you when the time comes!"

For a moment the two of them stood looking at each other intensely. They eventually broke their stare, however, for the time was growing near to make their final plight.

"OK, escapees, let's get the hell out of here!" Sideos and Kaiser yelled together, charging forward toward the main entrance. Most of the followers stayed close, though a few of them fell behind in the mad rush to freedom.

Slert was debating whether or not to follow the others when she heard footsteps approaching from behind. Curiously she twisted around to see who it was, nervous that it could be the infantry coming to stop them and catch them off-guard from behind. She sighed in relief when she was that it was not the Empire, but instead was Katz.

"Slert, I don't think we should follow them. There's no telling how many soldiers will be at the main entrance... too many to say the least. They'd overwhelm us for sure," she told Slert in a somewhat hushed voice.

Slert was glad to know she wasn't the only one who was thinking that way. She slowed her pace so she and Katz could have a proper talk of their dilemma. She questioned, "I know, but do you really think we should ditch them and go it alone? With just us, we could be facing the same amount of danger as them in their large group."

"No, we should take the other exit, it'll be safer," she sighed, "I asked Neep if he wanted to come, but he was worried about how we wouldn't have enough firepower to get out of here... legitimate concerns, I suppose. He went on with the others. But the military knows Sideos is with them, and knows how he thinks, so they should be waiting for him at the front. They won't expect us to slip through the back."

Slert nodded. If Katz was taking the other way out, she was determined to join her. One last time she looked at the group of insane irkens, who were marching bravely into the face of danger. She would miss them after all they'd been through together, no doubt about it. The sounds of troops gathering and preparing for battle could be heard from outside, faint as they were. The exits, both of them, were close.

"Well if it's just you and me, we might need a bit of backup," Slert smiled, digging a small remote from her pocket and sending a beacon out to Streerch.

::End Chapter 24::

So, this is where I break away from Escape. I would have liked to go all the way with it, but I just got bored and decided to go ahead and write it myself. So now that I've decided to do that I have the rest of the story ready to upload! Yay!

All characters (c) their respective owners


	25. Chapter 25

Chapter 25

"Streerch should be on its way, though it might take a few moments for it to get here," Slert informed, "Could be anywhere in this godforsaken place."

"OK... but if it takes too long, I'm leaving regardless. We can't afford to waste time at this point. The troops are probably fortifying all the exits as we speak," Katz worried. She'd be willing to wait for the robot, but she'd make sure it didn't cost her her life if she could help it.

"No worries, we can head them off now if we want. If Streerch hasn't been disassembled by now, it'll catch up to us."

The two of them nodded, silently agreeing that they should head off now instead of waiting. They didn't even know if the robot was still functional, and waiting could possibly lessen their chances of escape. Moving away from Sideos's group they retraced their steps until they were back at the fork in the road.

For just a moment they waited there, but when the robot didn't show after a few minutes they continued on down the unexplored corridor. As time passed and there was no sign of her robot companion Slert began to grow worried that something had happened. If Streerch didn't arrive soon, she didn't know what they'd do: They'd need all the firepower they could get, and as they were now things weren't looking good.

They'd undoubtedly be outnumbered when they'd reach the door. The only one with a weapon was Katz, and she was very nearly out of ammunition; Slert had lost her supernatural dagger when Groove had blown the door open, but hadn't realized it until recently. They needed Streerch if they wanted to survive.

As they made their way down the hall they came across many more twists and turns, but each time decided to keep going as straight as they could. After walking in silence aside from the occasional comment or complaint for what seemed like another good few hours Katz stopped Slert at one of the four-ways, her arm outstretched to act as a barrier.

Slert stopped just short of Katz's arm, a somewhat nervous look on her face. Quietly she asked, "What is it?"

"Footsteps, coming this way..." Katz hissed, listening intently to determine where the constant tip-tap of the footsteps was coming from. As the intruder grew nearer she was able to figure out where they were coming from.

"To the left," she informed. Swiftly she drew her laser gun and aimed it at the darkness of the hallway. Putting herself on edge she made sure she'd be able to launch an attack at a second's notice.

Tension settling around the two of them they peered down the corridor from which the sounds were coming. The lights flickered on and off at irregular intervals, both obscuring their visions and giving them a better view of what could be approaching.

Soon the footsteps grew noticeably louder, and Slert detected a slight metallic clang as well. She couldn't tell if it was her robotic slave or something else, so she decided to not yet jump to conclusions.

Still they waited, watching vigilantly for the incoming being. After a few more minutes of standing there ready to defend themselves should it be an enemy, they finally got their first view of what was approaching.

It was an odd looking creature, shorter than Slert would have thought. It appeared to be missing an arm and it seemed to have a bit of a limp. Its overall shape was very odd, seemingly dented and beaten. Protruding from what she assumed was its head was what looked to be a giant pulsating mound, twitching some with every step it took.

Slert's face contorted to a look of confusion. For the life of her she couldn't figure out what this creature was, much less if it was friend or foe. Apparently Katz couldn't figure it out either, for soon she changed her stance slightly, taking careful aim at the approaching being.

Within seconds the gun in her hand was cocked, safety off and steady finger on the trigger. The creature took a few more shaky steps toward them before she pulled back on the trigger. Instantaneously a purple beam of light shot out, illuminating the hall better than the flickering lights had been doing.

Within seconds the attack met its target, though it seemed to do no harm to the being, merely bouncing off it. In uncertainty Katz fired a few more shots at the creature, each seeming to bounce off the thing without doing it any harm. Defeated for the time being Katz lowered her weapon; if she wanted any chance of escape she'd have to conserve what little ammo she had left, for she had only a few more shots in her arsenal.

"Who's there?" Slert called out, not taking her eyes off the approaching figure.

A low moan was her answer, echoing through the halls. It seemed vaguely familiar to her, but she couldn't put her finger on where she knew it from. Still the figure advanced, until finally it was standing before them.

It took them a few moments to fully recognize who it was. Slert gasped and gave a small chuckle upon putting the pieces together, "Is... is that you, Streerch?"

The small being nodded. Luckily it had been able to make it back to its master, though while they'd been separated it had run into a little bit of trouble.

Streerch's left arm, the one that had been the giant poison-tipped claw, had been ripped off by one of the psychotic inhabitants of the second floor. All that was left of it now was a small hole with a few wires protruding, emitting the occasional burst of sparks. Its body was dented and bent, beaten in the robot's attempts to escape the lunatics it had come across.

The large moving mound atop her slaves head was something that neither she nor Katz would have expected. They couldn't help but laugh at the sight, it was just so peculiar and random.

Perched atop its head was a small smeet. It lay on it stomach, its mouth wide open, nibbling on the robot's metal skull. A small line of drool ran through the baby irken's razor sharp teeth and down the side of Streerch's face, though the robot seemed to not notice.

"What d'you think we should do with it?" Slert asked. Carefully she removed the smeet from her robot slave's head, receiving a few small bites in the process. At first he seemed to be finicky, but soon calmed down as she cradled the boy in her arms.

"We can't leave him here... insane or not, he deserves a life better than this. We have to take him with us, at least until we get outside," her mother suggested, glancing at the smeet softly.

"If we bring it with is it could hinder our progress, possibly making escape flip away... but you're right, he doesn't deserve this." Slert agreed. The smeet probably hadn't even done anything yet to land a spot in this hell: He was probably a defect, and they'd nipped the 'problem' in the bud by admitting it to Seven.

Katz thought for a moment. Slert did have a point. They couldn't afford to do anything that could end up costing them their freedom. "We'll continue on and bring him with us, but if he hinders our progress too much we'll have no choice but to leave him," she determined.

Slert nodded. Now there was just the issue of how to go about getting everyone out. She and Katz both would have to make use of their hands so they could fight their way to freedom. By the looks of it Streerch's main weapon systems were down, making it a good candidate.

"Streerch, you'll carry the smeet with your good arm. Keep a lookout for us, and if we get in a sticky situation drop the thing and do everything in your power to protect us. Got it?" Slert instructed, holding out the pale-skinned creature.

"NO! You can't drop it... just put it down gently and then help us..."

"As Streerch took the smeet in its arm it obediently said, "Yes, my master. But it seems to like the taste of me." The baby was already trying to eat one of the robot's fingers.

"Administer it a small shock – not enough to really hurt him, but enough to knock him out. We wouldn't want him crying and giving away our positions," Katz said, stealing the words right out of Slert's mouth.

Streerch nodded, sending a small shock through the infant's body. With a soft and short whimper he slipped into unconsciousness, his body slumping slightly in Streerch's arm.

"Good, now we should get going. They've probably already started sending in troops to round up those of us who haven't died, so they can put us back in our cells..." Slert said nervously, shivers running up and down her spine at the very thought of her lonely cell.

"Yeah," her mother agreed, nodding slightly, "The exit... you didn't see it on your way here, did you, Streerch?"

The robot shook its head, a definite 'no'. It had seen a good many things, but a door out of this place hadn't been one of them.

"And this other way looks like it leads back to one of the other four-ways. Which would mean," Slert started excitedly, growing slightly jittery at the concept of being close to the exit, "that the exit should be straight ahead."

Together she and Katz shared a silent moment of happiness, but quickly cut it short. Celebration would have to wait until they completed their task; after all, they still had to make their actual escape.

They once more started forward, making their way down what they believed to be the last stretch of hall between them and their freedom. They now slowed their pace, hoping to better detect any incoming guards or pick up on any secrets or items which could help them.

It worked, for they soon heard voices up ahead. They slowed their pace further, inching along at a snail's pace to make sure they didn't make any moves that could doom them. Finally they got to the corner, the very end of the hall they'd been walking for some time now. Directly ahead of them there was no exit, but when they poked their heads around the corner they caught a glimpse of a closed door, with two solitary guards standing by, chatting and generally loafing about.

"Think you can take 'em? Or do you need a distraction of some kind?" Slert asked in a hushed voice. Her answer was a shake of Katz's head. She could take them out, and she would do it before she knew what hit them.

Without another word she stepped out from behind the safety of the corner, her footsteps so soft even Slert didn't hear them. Quickly she prepared the gun, aiming at the closest guard's head. Seconds later he was slumped on the ground, blood dribbling from a small hole square between his eyes.

His partner stared down at the irken's limp body, a dumbfounded yet horrified expression on her face. Katz shot again, but the irken ducked instinctively, the beam of deathly light shooting past her head.

Katz cursed under her breath as she steadied her aim. Three more shots were hastily fired for good measure. All hit their target, though not before the guard was able to send out a distress message to her comrades.

"Shit!" katz yelled angrily, running to the dead bodies and kicking the radio from the girl's hands in frustration. She knew it would have no effect, and that the reinforcements would still be on their way, but she felt she had to do it, if only to release some anger. She whipped around to face Slert and ordered, "Take a gun. You'll need it."

Slert nodded, stepping out from her hiding place and approaching the door. As Katz threw away her own gun – which by now was completely devoid of ammo – and picked up one of the guards' Slert did the same, arming herself for the approaching battle.

The gun was a simple laser gun, small and easily workable. It was meant mostly for defence by the looks of it, but would function perfectly well in the final fight that stood between them and their freedom.

Looking to the door for a way to open it Slert found an eye and fingerprint scanner. If her assumption was correct it would be easy enough to open the door. She looked to Katz and asked, a certain fierceness in her voice, "You ready?"

Katz nodded. This was it; it was all or nothing.

::End Chapter 15::

This is it: the final stand. Next chapter is the end of the story, and then it's on to the sequel, where I introduce this year's Blood Sport contestant and also bring an end to Slert's story (aside from a small fic here and there probably). How will the battle go? Will they lose? You'll have to find out... in a few minutes! Last chapter will be up momentarily.


	26. Chapter 26

Chapter 26

Slert picked up one of the guards by his antenna, ploughing his face into the eye scanner. She certainly didn't have time to manually extract his eyeball, so this would have to do. Promptly a blue light crept over his face, the scan commencing.

"Eye scan complete, primary access granted," a soft robotic voice announced as the scanning light turned green in acceptance, "Please now place hand on fingerprint scanner."

Slert did just that, taking his hand and pressing it onto the scanner. A blue light appeared just as before, turning blue when the scan was complete. Slert allowed the body to drop back to the floor when the voice spoke again.

"Finger scan accepted, secondary access granted," it said. Slert fully expected it to open the door for them at that point, but apparently there was one last thing to do. A small section of the grey wall rolled back into itself, revealing a number pad. The voice instructed, "Please enter security code."

Slert looked to Katz, a look of worry on her face. She should have expected there to be a bit more security, but hope had gotten the best of her. For a few moments the two of them thought. Neither came up with anything.

Finally Slert decided to wing it, knowing that they couldn't just stop here without at least trying. She muttered to herself as she pushed the buttons hopefully, "One, one, one... uhm... one."

It was a long shot, but it was better than nothing. In her mind it was a somewhat logical choice; the empire underestimated those imprisoned in Seven in nearly every aspect, and didn't put it past them to input a password as easy as this.

She was very much surprised when she heard the gears within the door grind, unlocking, the voice saying to her, "Correct number sequence inputted, full access granted. Door opening."

"Well, this is it," Katz said, as she made sure that the gun she'd stolen was in working order one last time, "Good luck."

Slert nodded. She had an urge to up and hug Katz before the door opened, but decided against it. She didn't know of their relationship, and hugging her now would just lead to an awkward moment and cause a major distraction.

"Katz, there's something you should know before we do this. You see, I..." he started, though she was never able to finish. Before the last words left her mouth the doors opened, revealing a platoon of what looked to be very well-trained soldiers.

"Stop where you are and surrender!" the leader of this group of troops commanded, glaring at them menacingly from behind his blue half-face mask. He meant business, no doubt about it.

But so did Slert and Katz. They weren't going down without a fight. Not now, not ever.

With one last glance at each other they cocked their guns, spraying a few rounds at the group trying to prevent their escape. Between the two of them with that initial attack they took out three of the soldiers, leaving another ten to defend against them.

It seemed that taking one of the side exits had been a good thing after all. They had to take care of only ten more troops, and it didn't look like there were any other reinforcements on the way. All their efforts were likely being diverted to the main exit, which Sideos's group had to have reached by now. Since nobody else was coming they had to assume that his lot was at least holding their ground, if not making some headway.

Still, it would be a hard fight to win, and once they did they'd still be in danger. Minions of the empire would be crawling all around the planet and other, probably more dangerous escapees would be trying desperately to get off the planet. To say the least it would be chaotic.

"Fire at will!" the commander commanded, steadying his own gun. He shot at them without any hesitation whatsoever, a precise shot that Slert just barely dodged. She grunted softly in pain as she looked down at her arm to see her asylum uniform slightly torn, the skin beneath burnt slightly.

She growled, taking her own laser pistol and firing blindly at the soldiers in rage. As she did she silently cursed herself for reacting like this, knowing it could jeopardize their survival. She'd thought that her darker side had settled down to some degree, but all at once it had fired up again. She knew it would help them get out of there, but only if she could act tacitly as well.

Worry crossed her face – and Katz's too, for that matter – when they realized the enemy was well-prepared than they'd thought. The soldiers in front seemed to hold only laser pistols, where the line behind that held what looked to be machine guns of some sort. Behind them was a solitary soldier who held in his hands an RPG launcher.

'Fire at will' was starting to seem a lot more deadly now that they noticed that.

Slert fired a few more aimed shots alongside Katz, taking out one more of the irkens in front, before turning to her robot slave. Fiercely she cried out, "Streerch, get your metallic ass over here!"

Streerch obeyed, rushing forward with a jolt. The smeet fell from its arm, landing on the hard ground with a soft thunk. Without as much as a cry of surprise the baby irken laid there.

"Master, what do you need me to do?" the robot asked, as it ran and stood protectively in front of Slert.

"I don't care... just hold them off!" she screeched, as she jumped from the doorway to the cover of the wall. The irkens with machine guns had started firing, sending a deadly shower of lasers in their direction. There was no way for Slert and Katz to attack if they didn't want to be filled with holes first.

Streerch took it upon itself to decide how to take care of their dilemma. Most of its weapon systems were down, but it still had a few tricks up its sleeve. The people who looked after things here at Seven had extracted the obvious internal weapons, but there were a few in particular they'd missed.

While its master hid in the safety of the asylum, well out of the line of fire, Streerch stood right out in the open. It was pelted with shots, its body becoming more and more beaten with every passing second, but it didn't care.

Momentarily it informed anyone who could hear above the roar of the working guns, "Activating offensive pattern 629... Missiles prepared. Launch in three... two... one."

A few of the soldiers ceased firing, unsure of what they'd heard the robot say. At the end of its countdown its shoulder protectors rotated back, a small set of missiles emerging from each side. The robot let out a mechanical laugh when it saw the soldiers' looks of disbelief. Not wanting to waste any more time the robot went ahead and fired at their enemies.

The four missiles shot directly at the crowd and small as they were raised a giant cloud of dirt and show that engulfed the soldiers when they were hit. Nobody could see anything through the cloud, but soon after it was raised the two escapees got an idea.

"Slert, Streerch, head outside and take cover behind that rock! There's no way we can fight them in here, but we may have a better chance out there," Katz suggested hastily, knowing they'd have time to act further after the cloud settled.

Slert nodded, jolting from her hiding place alongside Katz. They ran as fast as they could from the door, taking cover behind some fair-sized rocks to the left of the soldiers. Their new cover was the perfect size: crouching protected them from incoming ire while standing would allow them a shot at their attackers.

As they waited there to use the element of surprise, for nobody realized they were there, Slert shivered. This planet was cold, too cold, and neither she nor Katz had any kind of protection. If they wanted to avoid damage from the inferno they'd have to finish this and find a way off the planet fast.

For a fleeing moment she thought of just forgetting about the soldiers to make a run for it, but she quickly dashed the thought from her mind. The soldiers before them were well-trained and would almost certainly catch onto them.

Soon enough the cloud for dirt and snow subsided, settling back to its place on the ground. It was clear to see that the attack had done some damage, though not as much as they had hoped. Two more of the lightly armed soldiers had been taken down, destroying that rank, but nobody else seemed to have been harmed. They still had to deal with five more of them if they wanted to advance.

The group of soldiers looked around, trying to determine where the escapees had gotten too. They weren't stupid; they knew that the three of them had changed positions while they'd been at a disability.

"This is your last chance," the leader started, his voice, bubbling with anger, "Come out. Surrender now and you may at least get to live."

Slert smiled to herself. There was no way she'd give herself up, not when they were this close. All at once Slert remembered something that could finish this once and for all and whispered to her robot companion, "Activate the hidden power."

Streerch nodded, beginning the preparations for the devastating attack. Slowly it diverted all its power to the device Slert had planted in its head all those years ago. As it diverted the power various parts of its body shut down; Slert was left to aim the attack and move the robot.

As more and more power was diverted the three arrows on its forehead began to glow. They knew the attack was ready when the circle in the middle of these arrows began to glow a deep red. Slert poked her head over the boulder for just a second, making sure she aimed Streerch's head correctly. Once she was sure everything was lined up perfectly she whispered to the robot, "OK, Streerch... let 'er rip!"

Had the robot been able to move on its own it would have, but instead it just triggered the device. All at once the boulder in front of them exploded, the continuous super-charged laser ploughing through it mercilessly. Slert and Katz shielded themselves from the debris, but Slert took the blunt of it, for she was determined to keep it trained at their enemies.

The laser continued through the rock, heading straight for the troops. They didn't have time to react. Everyone one of them was hit by the steady beam of red light, some losing limbs and others plain dropping dead. Only one of them was able to escape the attack entirely thanks to his ability to think on his toes.

Amidst the destruction caused by the laser came a well-timed explosion, and the soldier operating the rocket launcher rose into the air. Before gravity could take hold of him again he loaded another RPG into his weapon, aiming it at the escapees.

For a moment it looked like they weren't going to make it through this lone soldier's attack; Streerch's system had to reboot so it could regain power and the two irkens' guns had been thrown from their hands by the powerful blast.

Before he could pull the trigger, however, his body convulsed, very quickly after that becoming limp. As he fell to the ground the rocket launcher slipped from his hand. When Slert realized nothing had happened she opened her eyes to see quite an unexpected scene.

The soldier lay on the snowy ground, his weapon lying beside him. He didn't move an inch. Upon looking closer Slert saw that there was a pool of blood surrounding his head, with a gaping and gory hole in the back of his head. Slightly confused Slert looked around for what had done this, and out of the corner of her eye found the cause.

Up in the high ground, far away atop some snowy cliffs to the side of the asylum, lay an irken. Slert wouldn't have noticed him up there if it hadn't been for the reflection of the suns on the scope lens, creating a glare. For a moment she stared at where the sniper was, unsure if he was friend or foe; he could have easily been aiming at her but accidentally misfired, hitting the soldier instead.

Soon enough she saw movement, a head poking above the powerful sniper rifle. The figure raised a hand to wave at her briefly, and she knew that he was an ally; his sleeve was stripped black and white, an asylum uniform. Quickly after he shifted his position, wishing to help others get to their freedom as well.

Slert nodded, a thankful look on her face, and waved back. Momentarily after the ordeal she heard the distinctive beeping sound that signalled Streerch's systems coming back online.

This was it. Their roadblock had been overcome, Streerch was back in operating order, and freedom was finally within their reach. It was time to make the final escape. But when she looked around, she found that something was amiss.

::End Chapter 26::

Well, this is it folks! The end of The Art of Revenge! Sequel will start to be uploaded soon, I have a good amount of chapters done for it... will probably put that on a weekly basis again. Although, I do want to have a good chunk of it uploaded before/early into Blood Sport so my opponents can do some research if they want... meh. I'll figure it out.


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